The Thief Lords from Beneath
by Shizumi-chan
Summary: Allen Walker was the fourteenth heir to the throne. But now that he can only take the crown by conquest, he'll need to get the help of living legends. AU. Eventual Kanda/Allen & other pairings
1. PROLOGUE

**PROLOGUE**

The toll of bells echoes across the capital, the bustle of the streets stops, and a quiet march begins. It is a walk they all take. A walk headed for their king; a walk headed for what is the city square. The castle stands at the very end of city square, tall and proud. An elaborately decorated veranda stands out from the rather plain castle wall facing the people. It is there that the King shows himself. He sits upon his plush chair and gazes upon his people. The crowd is silent. They file into the square without so much as a whisper, parents call upon their young ones with mere gestures, and groups of friends do the same. They stand there, all attention upon the veranda, as they wait for the voice of their monarch.

The King begins his speech, "I, Earl Millennium, the sixty-seventh king of the Kingdom of Dorian, hereby remove all the rights of Sir Allen Walker as a citizen and an heir to my throne. He will, from this day forth, no longer be the fourteenth heir, and will no longer be allowed within the premises of the castle. The standard laws for outcasts shall be applied. Anyone who shelters him from here on shall receive capital punishment. Help in the form of food, first aid, and the like shall be subject to corporal punishment. Those who commit lesser offences such as engaging in any form of communication with him shall be charged a fine."

He stops; pauses to gaze at his audience. The faces in the crowd are all in shock, though most of them seemed to be desperately trying to suppress their feelings.

"That is all."

After a moment of hesitation, the crowd slowly leaves the square.

"Uncle…" Rhode Camelot, the first heir, whispers. "…Are you sure you no longer want to keep Sir Walker?"

She was, despite all, especially fond of the fourteenth.

"Quite," is all Earl Millennium replies, as he rises from his seat. Lady Camelot purses her lips in disapproval, not liking the answer in the least. However, she does not mutter any sort of retort, for there is no arguing with the King.

…………………….

Sir Allen Walker is only surprised that he had not been removed from the roster of heirs sooner. The chains that bind his hands make soft tinkling sounds as he is escorted through the halls of the castle one last time. Earl Millennium claims to have only _**recently **_found out that Allen is only an _**adopted**_ son of Mana Walker, the deceased former prince, and is therefore not suitable to be an heir. He is charged for treason-- pretending to be something you are not is apparently punishable by law. But Allen Walker knows that Earl Millennium is not a man so stupid as to find this out only now. He had known this from the beginning surely and merely waited for the perfect moment to act upon it. What he was getting at by exiling Sir Walker now was something that was probably unknown to anyone except him.

The guards shove Allen Walker roughly out of the front door. It is raining of course, for the heavens did always love to spite young Walker. His unnatural snow-colored hair sticks to his face, as does his white button down shirt. His scruffy brown pants went from comfortably tight-fitting to uncomfortably so. Blue eyes gazes into the heavens which their owner now curses. The guards shove him out of the gate, and Sir Allen Walker falls into mud.

_"Oh fuck this life,"_ he thinks, annoyed with his situation. The people of the city try desperately to ignore him, and Allen briefly muses on how ungrateful people can be. He had been the only heir to be _nice_ to them, and this is what he gets? Not even one little protest on his behalf? Not even one soul brave enough to give him shelter? But then again, the enemy was Earl Millennium. The stakes were higher than they could ever be, and he therefore could not blame anyone for pretending that he no longer exists.

"_This, however, makes me just as good as dead," _he tries, with much hassle, to get on his feet once again. _"Mana, just what exactly did you want me to do?"_

He takes his first steps cautiously, then takes a deep breath and looks at his surroundings.

_"Surviving is going to be almost impossible."_

This is of course just stating the obvious, but Allen feels the need to affirm his miserable state. There is nowhere to go, and honestly he doesn't know what to do from here, and so Allen Walker decides to do what his late stepfather always told him to do .

_"Keep on walking…"_

……………………

"Wake up, brat."

The words do not register immediately. At first Allen thinks he's just having a horrible, horrible dream, then he thinks that he might have already died, and this was hell, but then:

"Wake up you fucking brat!" is shouted again, and he realizes that it is reality after all.

Slowly, Sir Allen Walker opens his eyes. He is met with unfamiliar wine colored eyes on the face of a man with wine colored hair. Second hand smoke enters Sir Walker's airways from the cigarette the stranger is smoking. The snow haired former noble coughs. "Could you please, not smoke right in front of my face, sir?"

The man ignores the statement, and warily observes him for a moment.

"They were not lying when they said second hand smoke can lead to death sir, and as I would like to stay alive—"

Allen is interrupted by the sitting up of the unfamiliar _gentleman_.

"Thank you…" and young Sir Walker opts to sit up as well.

"You're an annoying kid…" The red head comments, puffing out a small cloud of smoke. "…Too prissy for my liking…" He adds.

Allen frowns. "Whether or not you know who I was, I believe that comment is still rude…" He says.

The initial reply is a snigger, followed by the words, "Allen Walker, fourteenth heir to the throne of this shitty Kingdom."

The snow-haired one is silent eyes widening slightly, then he clears his throat "Well, formerly so…" he mutters. "Is this your house?" he asks, and the red head tells him, "You could say that".

Allen Walker raises an eyebrow, "You _**do **_know that sheltering me is subject to execution?"

The man simply shrugs and says, "If those bastards could kill me, they would have done so a long time ago."

Silence reigns for a moment until Allen decides to say, "Thank you for saving me." He shifts awkwardly in the bed he was sitting on, unsure of what to do now really.

"Just so you know, I didn't save you for free." The snow-haired one turns to the older-looking man, eyeing him curiously.

"My name's Cross Marianne, and from now on, you're with me."

Young Sir Walker finds himself nodding.

……………………..

Cross Marianne does not ever reveal his age, but Allen gathers him to be a man in his early thirties. He has a handsome (rugged) face, and a foul mouth. Never did he go a night without gambling, sex, or alcohol. Cross Marianne's way of life is all in all costly, which would have been perfectly fine had he the money to spend, but he did not. Allen Walker wonders how on earth this man managed before he'd crossed paths with him. Wherever Cross Marianne has debt, only Allen Walker is there to find a way to pay for it. Partly because he has no place to go, partly because he secretly thought it is kind of exciting, and partly because he just loves challenge. Allen Walker learned the ways of the _dark side_ and paid off all his companion's (and somewhat guardian's) debts (although, he did not always manage to pull through unscathed).

Poker is Walker's first source of income. Once you get the hang of cheating, it is just all too easy. Allen Walker is a master cheat. He is a demon. He never gets caught, and so he never _**ever**_ loses. He wins all the money, and uses them to pay for the bills he's been left to. Of course, at first, he'd almost been caught, and at first, he didn't really have the confidence to stand up against his full bodied competitors (who were more often than not sore losers). But after getting beaten up several times, Allen Walker has learned to have the resolve and the arrogance of a kid who grew up on the streets instead of that of a palace-born brat. This, however, is an aura Sir Walker is only capable of exuding during poker; other times, he becomes his normal polite-and-prissy, former-heir self. This often makes it easier to deal with the **women **Cross Marianne leaves behind, so this double personality thing he has really does come in handy.

Of course, even though Allen Walker knows how to _**handle**_ the things Cross left behind, that doesn't mean he isn't annoyed with having to deal with them at times. Sure, he's learned to kind of enjoy it, but that does not stop him from being utterly pissed at the older man for leaving him to do these things in the first place. Normal sixteen-year-olds do not deal with mountains of debts and angry one night stands. Then again, maybe Allen Walker shouldn't have expected normal anyway. At that thought, Walker often finds himself sighing.

Later however, Allen Walker would learn a great upside to having stuck with Cross Marianne.

………………………

**NOTES:**

**The Name "Earl Millennium" **– It felt weird to have a King without a name, and so I decided on this

**Kingdom of Dorian—**-man is **rumored **to stand for Dorian Gray Man (which actually makes a lot of sense, but that's just a rumor), so I just decided to give the Kingdom a name based on that


	2. CHAPTER ONE

**The Thief Lords from Beneath**

**CHAPTER ONE**

It is not that he is lost really; it is just that he didn't know where he is, that's all. He knows the streets of the capital like the back of his hand, having been a former heir; it has been his duty to study such things. However, his tutors had never mentioned anything about the underground paths of the city (except maybe in a story, but those tales they labeled fictional).

Allen Walker clutches onto his map tightly; he briefly thinks about how utterly useless Cross Marianne is at giving directions. It had taken him a day— _**a day**_**— **to figure out his guardian's directions to the secret passage to what Cross labeled as "Underworld Gray" (which was a rather plain name if you asked Allen, but it made sense: it was a world underneath the city of Gray, and was thus labeled accordingly).

The streets of Underworld Gray are many levels more complicated than the streets of the city above it though, and thus, Allen finds himself wandering aimlessly. The former heir finds himself wishing that they would have signs pointing to the entrance of the Black Order's base. Of course, he knows that this is unlikely, because the Black Order is a secret society of thieves that very few people know about. In fact, one could even say that none but its members knew about the Order. Allen sighs, and decides to pause and think. He sits down right there and then, and opens his backpack. Not a second later, a winged golden ball zooms out of his bag.

"Timcampy!" Allen exclaimed, thoroughly surprised. "What are you doing here?"

All this time the snow haired boy had thought that Timcampy and Cross Marianne are an inseparable pair. When asked what Tim was, Cross usually replies that "He's the proof of my status, without him I'm just a man." But at times, the red haired man will seem very annoyed that Timcampy is present. Allen has yet to discover just what the little winged ball really is. He'd figured that it is some sort of machine the Black Order had built for Cross. Why they would bother making something for the man, the former heir can only attribute to his guardian's status as a Thief Lord.

Allen turns his glance to Timcampy's abnormally long (and also golden) tail. There a letter is attached, and the seal is undoubtedly Cross Marianne's. The seal's design is a cross, similar to the design on Timcampy.

Allen inspects the envelope carefully; it said: "To be given to the Head Strategist." Briefly he debates on whether he should open it or not. He decides, however, that looking for the Order's entrance should go first. He turns to his little golden companion.

"Hey Tim, do you by any chance know how to get to the Black Order?" because, Allen assumes, Timcampy had surely gone there before. Tim flaps its wings, and heads towards one direction. The former heir takes that as a yes.

………………

"_I know what you're trying to do" says Cross Marianne one day, completely out of the blue._

_Young Sir Walker tilts his head slightly to one side and replies, "…What am I trying to do?" _

_The red haired man, throws his cigarette away casually and then says, "You're trying to be a Hansel duFroid." _

_To that, the former heir laughs. "Don't be silly! There is no way that I can be a Hansel duFroid, though I guess we are similar when you think about it, both being banished princes and all… But I cannot ever do what he did, because it isn't as if there really is such a thing as a Thief Lord."_

"_Well, brat…" Cross says, lighting another cigarette. "What if I told you Jasper LuRim was __**real**__?" _

_Suddenly, Allen doesn't feel like being cynical. "Do tell," he says, and Cross Marianne does exactly that._

………………_.._

_Up until the time Earl Millenium usurped the throne and became king, "The Tale of Hansel duFroid" was the most popular and most loved story of the people of the Kingdom of Dorian. It is a story about the banished prince, Hansel ri Froille, who takes on a new identity (Hansel duFroid) and claims his Kingdom by conquest. _

_The story starts with Hansel rebelling against his father, the King, because said monarch is becoming such a brutal tyrant. Hansel attacks his father but is then apprehended by the Royal Guards. He is stripped of all his rights, and then thrown into the streets outside of the castle. After days of wandering aimlessly through the city, Hansel passes out from hunger._

_When he wakes up, he is in an unfamiliar room. He is greeted by a woman who introduces herself Lanette duBoise. After much conversation, Lanette asks Hansel if he would like to meet his host. The answer was, of course, yes. _

_Hansel is then led by the woman through a series of complicated winding tunnels. The sight he sees in the room he is led to is described as such: "There beyond a wine red canopy, atop a mountain of glittering gold treasure, was a chair rivaling even the throne of a king, and on it sat the most tantalizingly handsome man Hansel has every laid eyes on". The man then introduces himself in this manner: _

_"Welcome Prince Hansel, from the House of ri Froille. I am Jasper LuRim, and this is my den. The den of the Thief Lord."_

_From that point on, the story circulates on Hansel's change. He changes his last name to duFroid and cuts his hair as a symbol of his beginning a new life. Throughout his days in the den of the Thief Lord, he is depicted to get especially close to the characters Lanette and Jasper. He is also shown to see the many horrors his father has been inflicting upon his people. After seeing a little girl being hit by a Palace Official, he vows that he would stop his father's reign. He is said to ponder on the best way to do so, and he decides that he will opt to vie for being King by conquest. He would claim the title that was supposed to be his by blood._

_This however, Hansel duFroid realizes, is not a meager task, and as such he could not hope to ever accomplish it alone. He needed an army. He turns to the Thief Lord. Jasper is at first skeptical, he does not want to leave his beloved den, and does not want to knowingly put his men in danger. Hansel goes about telling him all his reasons, both noble and selfish, in an effort to convince him. He says that he will make Jasper's band of thieves the Knights of his Court. Jasper would be his highest knight and would take part in the making of decisions. He promises a better life for all. Jasper LuRim's initial reply is that he thinks that he is already living the best life, but he will think about it. After much pondering, and observing of the town above, LuRim finally agrees._

_They create an elaborate plan to raid the castle. It is said that on a stormy night they put the plan into action, and after much bloodshed, Hansel declares himself king by conquest. The Kingdom rejoices._

………………

"Ah, is this the place Tim?" the reply to Allen's question is an action akin to a nod (as close to a nod as a flying ball could muster at least). It looked much like the entrance to one of the houses of the nobles. Three enormous doors, made out of fine redwood, elaborately designed with carvings of thorny roses on a long winding vine. The door in the middle had the carving at its center, of a cross similar to that found on Timcampy.

"Now how do I get inside…" the former prince wonders loudly. He reaches out to touch the center door.

"Identify yourself," says a voice from behind.

Allen briskly turns around to look at his unexpected company, only to be roughly pinned onto the door that was now behind him. The blade of a sword was pointed at his throat.

"What business do you have here?" and Allen's eyes widen for several reasons, fear, surprise, and curiosity to name a few.

This man did not look like an individual born in Dorian. His features were distinctly foreign. He had piercing black eyes, Allen noted, which matched well with the dark tresses he had tied in a ponytail. Had they been in any other situation, the former prince would have been gawking at this man mesmerized by his exotic beauty, mulling over why he had not been born with such looks. However, since said 'beauty' had a sword pointed against his throat, he could not bring himself to muse on it as much.

"_**Speak,**__" _the sword-wielding gentleman says with venom, making Allen snap out of it.

"I… um…" It takes a moment for a proper response to formulate. "…Cross Marianne sent me…" he breathes.

A wary expression appears on the foreign man's face, his dark eyes narrow, and he presses his lips together until they form a thin line.

"I have a letter!" Allen exclaims dumbly, and he fumbles for his backpack, struggling. The blade against his throat was proving to be quite the hindrance however, and so the best he could do is shift to one side completely. Allen bites his lower lip in frustration.

Suddenly a certain golden ball appears in front of him, biting a familiar looking envelope. Allen had forgotten that Timcampy occasionally bares teeth.

"Tim!" he exclaims, sounding more relieved that anything else, really. The former prince carefully shifts again, to face his assailant. "That's the one," he says, glancing at Tim. "The letter I mean…"

"That golem…" the other, decidedly taller man's dark pupils dilates as he looks at Timcampy. "…It's Cross Marianne's…" he mumbles, then turns his gaze at the snow-haired boy in front of him and glares. "Why do you have it?"

"I just said!" Allen exclaimed, now soundly frustrated and defiant. "Cross sent me!", and then the foreign-looking man gives him a look.

"Sent you?" Not moving his sword from where it is (i.e. against the former prince's throat) he reaches for the letter between Tim's teeth. He takes a moment to read what is written on it, then says, "Tsch… Wait here."

Then the man literally passes through the center door, letter and sword at hand, leaving Allen confused and alone. He touches the door once again. "But it's solid!"

………………….

"_They never do say whether or not Hansel kept his promise to Jasper," Allen comments idly, during one of the few occasions that he and Cross dined together. His guardian merely shrugs and replie,s "People just assume that he did…" he pauses. "…they also assume that he made Lanette his queen…"_

"_He__** didn't**__ make Lanette his queen?" If Allen remembers the story right, a romantic relationship between Lanette and Hansel was highly possible. _

_"Well, in the version that's told to kids, he did."_

"_So what you are implying is that Hansel duFroid had his heart set on someone else in the original?" _

_After a few moments, Allen took the general lack of reply as a yes. "Never say that in public…" he frowns. "…It'd break little girls' hearts"_

…………………...

"Let the golem bite you."

Allen is of course, completely shocked when the man appears yet again, passing through the door. "Why would I let Tim bite me?" the former heir asks, to which the other man replies, "Because it's the only way the door will let you through."

"Why is it the only way?" The sword-wielding one grunts in frustration. "Look, only members of the Order can _pass through_ these doors— if you don't fucking let the damn golem bite you, the door won't acknowledge you."

"…and I become a member if Tim bites me?" He finds the sword pointed in his direction yet again.

"Look, you little bastard, stop asking stupid questions. _Of course_ you won't become a member, it's just that golems don't bite just _**anyone**_; if that _**thing **_bites _**you **_then the doors will trust you enough."

Cross Marianne did always get Allen into astonishingly strange situations. This was obviously not an exception in the least.

"Bite away, Tim," he says.

………………

Allen Walker fidgets uncomfortably in his chair as he watches a man, who was probably the "Head Strategist," read the letter. The foreign man he had encountered earlier is in the corner of the room, glaring daggers at him. The former prince tried to ignore said man, turning to look at the other presence who is reading his guardian's letter.

The man also looks foreign, but this Allen would not have known if not for his eyes. The bespectacled man has eyes no local would ever be born with. The shape, so to speak, is entirely different. Although, the man has the pale skin that a local would have, and dark hair such as that was never an issue around here really…

"Hmm… It seems we have another Lord Heir on our hands," he fiddles with his eyeglasses as he says this. "Welcome to the Order, Allen" he offers a hand shake. "I'm Komui Lee, the Head Strategist."

"Nice to meet you," Allen says with a smile, taking the handshake. "Uhm… what exactly is a Lord Heir?".

Komui Lee looks at him in surprise. "You mean Cross didn't tell you yet?" And to that the snow haired one merely answers with a flat "No."

"Well…" says Komui "…In a nutshell, Cross Marianne just made you his first and only heir to his title as a Thief Lord…" he pauses. "…and seeing as how he gave you Timcampy, I'm guessing he's planning on making you the last."

Allen gawks at him, surprised. "No pressure though!" Komui tries to laugh reassuringly. "Kanda, would you be so kind as to show Allen over here around the Order?"

Allen turns to look at the man who attacked him; he meets a sharp glare. "What a pathetic excuse for a Lord Heir…" Kanda says. "… I want nothing to do with this beansprout." And then he stomps away to leave the room.

The former heir stares at his wake, quite annoyed by the nickname he'd just gained right then.

"Bother… Now I'll have to ask Lenalee…" Komui remarks. "Don't worry about that sourpuss Kanda, he's always like that."

That, Allen thinks, is actually more of a cause for worrying than not-worrying.

…………………….

**NOTES:**

"**The Tale of Hansel duFroid"- **purely made up, there is no such tale (I got the story from one of my would be manga plots that I never put into being)

**Lord Heir and Head Supervisor-** Hierarchy of this universe's Black Order will be explained in the next chapter

**Thank you for reading!**


	3. CHAPTER TWO

**The Thief Lords from Beneath**

**CHAPTER TWO**

Since the foreign looking man, who (Allen would find out) was named Kanda Yuu, declared that he does not want the business of the former heir to be his business, Komui Lee, the Head Strategist, is forced to let his sister give Sir Walker a tour of their (not so) humble abode (forced, because there is apparently so few people around the Black Order who can spare the time).

"Don't badger her, you hear me?" the bespectacled man had told Allen, expression wary.

Something told the former heir that he was dealing with a man that has a sister complex. Now while there is nothing wrong with being affectionate towards your siblings, there i_s_ something wrong about being seen as suspicious for no apparent logical reason. Not that it is something that could be blamed on Komui— usually men like him have sister complexes for very good reasons. Since Allen is in no position to pry yet, then he will just assume that it is caused by something grave.

Lenalee Lee is an amiable young woman with a pretty face and a sunny disposition. She has long dark hair tied in pigtails and cheerful dark green eyes. She is, so far, the nicest person Allen has met in Underworld Gray (although it should be said that he's only met three people so far).

"So you've met Kanda already…" from her tone, it is obvious that it is a statement and not a question.

The snow-haired boy answers anyway, "Yes… He… _**welcomed**_ me earlier…"

She laughs upon hearing that, and replies, "And what a welcome it had been…" and she thereafter mutters, "…or so I have heard…"

"He was quite the sight," Allen admits. "Unfortunately it was not dominantly for good reasons…" The former heir smiles when his walking companion giggles.

"Kanda," she says, "has always been quite the humbug; he has never, for the life of him, gone out of his way to sport a smile and be nice to someone."

"Perhaps he is afraid he'll strain a face muscle."

She giggles again at what Allen would call _'his cleverly crafted retort'._ He is beginning to really like the sound of her laughter; it was comforting, especially at a time like this when he has yet again found himself thrown into a messy situation by his sort-of guardian.

"Defying Kanda is issuing a death wish, Mr. Walker," she turns to look the snow-haired boy in the eye and grins.

"I've gone through worse…" he mutters in reply.

"By worse, you must mean your banishment," she says it as if it were a fact, which surprisingly enough was not what it was.

"No, getting disowned was something I had expected. It was, in effect, no cause for fret. The time I spent paying Cross Marianne's bills however, was horrifying in all ways possible."

The former heir is surprised when Lenalee grins. "We were wondering why he had stopped sending us his bills… Such a hardworking benefactor you are…"

"A willing patron I am not…" Allen sighs. "…Though, I only gave him as much as he gave me, or at least I tried to. Even now I probably still owe him, which is actually very annoying…"

"He is a good man, taking you in when nobody would," she quirks her eyebrows. "…Is it true that he gave you Timcampy? You must be one promising teenager to be appointed as Lord Heir by the Black Order's prodigal son."

Word must travel fast in the Order. Either that or they had one heck of an intelligence unit. Whatever the case, Allen Walker is impressed. "I don't know if promising is the right adjective to describe me…" he restrains himself from adding that perhaps 'unlucky' would have been more appropriate (because he would be kind of lying, he was actually very thankful that Cross picked him up even when such an act was punishable by law).

"Well, the fact will still remain…" says Lenalee. "…that you are now a candidate for Thief Lord."

……………………

To his understanding (based on what Lenalee Lee had told him), there are quite a few important things he is obligated to study. The Thief Lords are a given; as a Lord Heir, he is apparently required to study the history of all five of them (and all their predecessors). He is also to memorize all the names and faces of his fellow Lord Heirs. Aside from which, he is to learn the history of the Order as well as memorize the map of Underworld Gray. The study load is not that much different from what he had been taking when he was an heir to the throne of Dorian, but Allen still felt quite discouraged about having to go through all this. He briefly wonders how on earth a man like Cross Marianne had managed.

Young Sir Walker is told by young Miss Lee that: "You have to always be on good terms with the Head Strategist, Head Cook, and Senior Scribe." She also said that: "Judging by your personality though, it should be no problem."

Allen wonders who _would_ have a problem with such a thing, but then he thinks about the illustrious Kanda Yuu. "Is Kanda Yuu a Lord Heir?" the snow haired boy asks and he is surprised when Lenalee nods (even though he had expected as much).

"He is the third Lord Heir of Froi Tiedoll," she says. "Nobody could rival the strange tandem that was Froi Tiedoll and Kanda Yuu… That is, until you came…"

Allen doesn't know if he should take this as an insult or not, because he doesn't even know Froi Tiedoll.

This question of course, became inevitable.

"Why is their 'tandem' strange?"

"Well…" she taps her lip with her index finger thoughtfully, "…They're complete opposites, and Kanda always complains about him… Yet he still holds much respect for him… It's as if he's an unwilling but loving son…"

Somehow, Allen can really picture that. Kanda seems to be the kind who hides all his warmer emotions and showcases all his fiery emotions (but only that of the likes of anger and annoyance). The more attached he is with a person the more he bothers to quarrel with them (that, and when he _does _quarrel with people he likes, he never takes it too far). If ever Kanda did go over the top with his insults, that person he referred to must be genuinely annoying to him for one reason or another. Whether this is actually a valid analysis or not, Allen will determine in the future. For now Kanda _looks _like this type of person.

"Kanda is actually a nice person," Lenalee says matter-of-factly, "…Well, as nice as someone like him could ever could be." And she laughs at her own statement. "But if you ever start to find him annoying just focus on his face and not his insults and you'll start to greatly appreciate his company…" she pauses. "…Although, I have never experienced being insulted by him, let alone get an entire lot of insults…"

And for that Allen gapes at her. "He doesn't insult you?"

She nods in response, then says, "I guess it's because we go way back".

Another theory the former heir was going to make sure he investigated.

"Anyway… I was going to introduce you to the Senior Scribe, but…" she tilts her head to one side. "He is apparently busy at the moment… so you'll just have to settle for the Junior Scribe"

"The Junior Scribe?" Lenalee Lee stops before a rather plain looking door; it must however be noted that there isn't a single other door in sight. So this door might only be deceptively unimportant looking.

That theory was about to be tested; Lenalee takes a hold of the knob, and turns it. The light that streams out the entrance from within the room blinds Allen momentarily, until he gets used to the electricity driven lights which were decidedly brighter than the flaming torches that dimly lit the 'hallways' of Underworld Gray.

"It's a mountain of books," Allen exclaims dumbly when he gets used to the brightness.

"Allen Walker, meet Lavi, the Junior Scribe," the young woman points upwards, Allen's eyes follow.

"Mornin' Lenalee," his voice seemed playful, and Allen finds it strangely reassuring.

"Who's this?" the man named Lavi looked at the former heir, expression bewildered.

He had an eye patch over one of his eyes, while the other one glimmers a brilliant green. He is decidedly a good-looking redhead, who looked just about as old as the one name Kanda that Allen had met earlier. Lenalee speaks up when the snow-haired one only gapes.

"First of all, it isn't morning anymore, Lavi, it's already past midday…" She gestures towards Allen. "…Also, this person is Cross Marianne's first Lord Heir, his name is Allen Walker."

One green eye widens. "Lord Heir? Cross Marianne's? Why have I never heard of this 'til today? And Allen Walker did you say? Where have I heard that name before…"

Lenalee laughs. "Should I answer those questions one by one? Yes, he's Cross's Lord Heir, _**no one **_has heard about him being one 'til today, and perhaps Dorian's exiled fourteenth heir might ring a bell?"

The look of surprise doesn't leave Lavi's face. "He's _**that**_ Allen Walker? I never thought one of _**them **_would become one of you lot…"

He turns towards Allen, and the former heir flinches. "…So, what brings you to Underworld Gray, Allen? Come to become another Hansel duFroid?"

This has the snow-haired one looking quite guilty, because he is actually sort of thinking about it (becoming a Hansel duFroid) ever since he learned that Theif Lords like Jasper LuRim were real.

"Woah there, are you serious now?" Lavi expertly hops down from atop the central mountain of books. "Won't be so easy as it was for Hansel you know, there was only one Thief Lord back then; we've got five now, and the Order's much more diverse and populated too, gonna be hard to win this organization over…"

Allen tries to look him in the eye when he says, "I wasn't really thinking of doing that…" and he doesn't add that he might like do it, but—

"You would like to do it though, wouldn't you?"

It's as if the Junior Scribe can read his mind. The former heir finds himself unable to answer; he tries to, but his mouth is just left hanging open. Lenalee intervenes:

"Don't scare him Lavi, he's new, he wouldn't get your conversational patterns…" She waves a finger at him, as if scolding a child, but she has the cheekiest grin on her face.

"Conversational patterns?" Allen dares ask.

The young Ms. Lee then turns to him and, "Since he's a Scribe, he tends to interrogate people of the Order often. Not everyone is so eager to answer questions, but most people have gotten used to getting asked."

"She says not everyone, but in truth, there's only one person who always refuses to answer any of my questions," Lavi laughs.

The snow haired boy tilts his head to one side "Is this person Kanda Yuu by any chance?"

To which the jolly reply is: "Why yes, how did you know?"

Allen shrugs and mutters something about getting attacked.

"Oh that brings back memories, I got attacked first time I got here too you know… Yuu never changes…"

"And that is exactly why he attacked you, people from his home country are very touchy about getting called by first name. You know that, and I know that, and yet you went about copying and calling him Yuu…" Lenalee was looking at Lavi with a disapproving expression.

"And I have you to thank for my life," the Junior Scribe laughs after saying this.

Lenalee gets infected after a while and begins to giggle. Allen knew he is missing out on something, but decides that asking about what it is might actually make him feel more left out on the joke.

"Well anyway… If you need help with your studies, don't hesitate to come to me, okay?"

Allen guesses that this is probably because scribes know all. Lavi had that intelligent feel to him, though it becomes questionable at times. "Have you met Jerry by the way?"

"No, he's our last stop," Lenalee quickly replies and when she is met with a blank look from Allen, she says, "He's the Head Chef."

Allen inwardly mutters "Oh," and tries to hide his excitement at the possibility of eating actual food.

………………….

"Don't be so fidgety Allen, Jerry's a nice person; he's one of the few people Kanda's nice to, even!"

Allen doesn't point out that he's not fidgeting because he's nervous, it's out of excitement actually (food!) and he also doesn't point out that Kanda is probably nice to the Head Chef because he might die of starvation. Instead, what Allen says is, "Uhm, do I get to eat after I meet him?"

……………………..

**NOTES:**

**1 ) **I updated late because second sem just started, and I got a bit busy. Also, I had trouble with this chapter actually.

**2) **I'm sorry if the flow is sort of weird. I'm trying to achieve a certain type of atmosphere, and I'm not sure if I'm getting there …sigh…

Thank you for reading! :


	4. CHAPTER THREE

**The Thief Lords from Beneath**

**CHAPTER THREE**

When they get to the dining hall, there is a big commotion going about.

Lenalee mumbles, "Ugh, not again…" and sighs.

Curiously, Allen looks around the premises, silently wondering if people in the Order are always this indifferent when it came to new comers. He notices that they are not looking at him, but they are intently looking at something else. The snow haired former heir turns to the general direction of their gazes.

There is a tall, hulking, and incredibly muscular man who is shouting angrily and incessantly. Allen wonders why it doesn't surprise him to notice that the man to which this anger is directed at is the guy called Kanda Yuu. As luck would have it, they have crossed paths yet again.

"You think you're such a big shot!" screams the bulky man.

Kanda Yuu remains indifferent; looking unaffected as he idly eats what seem to be noodles. Angered even more, the tall man then proceeds to rant on about how apparently Kanda was a no good, haughty, son of a—

The dark haired man then stands abruptly, grabbing the other man by his right wrist and pointedly glares. "I'm a son of a what now?" he says, voice indifferent despite the expression he wore.

"You heard me," the other replies defiantly. "You're a no good, haughty, son of a—"

Kanda punches him squarely on the nose. A soft cracking sound can be heard and the man shouts in agony. He thereafter stares at his bleeding nose in disbelief (making him look laughably cross eyed).

"Why you—"

The effeminate-faced sword wielder grabs the taller man's right wrist and twists it briskly, but before he can make for the other arm, he is stopped. Allen realizes that he has just taken that moment to pounce.

His hand is on Kanda's wrist.

Widened dark eyes stare at the former heir in disbelief.

"I don't think you should take it so far," Allen says, surprising even himself.

The features on Kanda's face contort into an expression the snow haired boy cannot at all fathom. But the impressions it gave were these: One, "This is one insanely gorgeous human being," and two, "He is going to kill me isn't he?"

Allen hopes impression one will be of more significance to his life, but unfortunately impression two proves to be more important because if that is true then he might not even _**have **_a life in a few minutes.

"Is that what you are?" The question genuinely confuses the ex-noble, and he tilts his head to one side contemplating on what it might have meant. "What a pathetic excuse for a Lord Heir…" says Kanda, "…Cross has no taste as usual."

"Hold it right there!" Allen sounds offended. "I can stand insults directed towards my guardian and master, but insults towards my own persona are unforgivable!" He knows it's usually the other way around, but then he thinks, what of it?

"Allen," Lenalee says, interrupting the whole scene. "Stand down."

Amazingly the girl is unfazed by the grim looks on both their faces, and people make way for her, gazing with what seemed to be great respect. "Kanda…" she says with a sigh, "…You don't _**have **_a mother, or rather, you've never even met her."

"Whether or not I've met her, an insult to my kin is an insult to myself," he says matter-of-factly, and something tells everyone in the room that this was probably an Oriental thing. (Kanda thinks that it _**shouldn't **_be called an 'Oriental thing' though, because he thinks that is prejudiced).

"Can we just set this aside?" She says almost pleadingly, and Allen is surprised that Kanda recoils, showing a guilty expression, albeit briefly.

"Whatever," he says, glares at both the snow-haired boy and the tall man for good measure, and then leaves.

"He will never change…" Lenalee says, sighing. "He's always doing things his way, it doesn't help that he thinks so differently compared to most people in the Order… And he eats nothing but soba! C'mon Allen, I'll introduce you to Jerry so you know what I mean…"

And even though she is dragging him along to meet the Head Chef for the wrong reasons, Allen doesn't say a word.

Instead he thinks about how he will probably be fed in less than ten minutes. The idea brought him much joy.

……………………….

"I take it that you love the food," Allen wonders why most people find it necessary to state the obvious. Perhaps, he thinks, they do it to emphasize a point, and so when Lenalee muttered that, he can't help but wonder if the implication of the statement is meant as an insult, or just an innocent comment.

"I do." This the former heir says without emotion (he thinks that by doing so, he'd be safe either way).

"Jerry traveled to many Kingdoms and learned their different cuisines you know, that's why he can cook soba, which is usually cooked in Eastern Kingdoms…" she pauses. "… I'm actually from an Eastern Kingdom myself, a different one from Kanda though, so I prefer other dishes… Are you familiar with Eastern Kingdoms, Allen?"

"Oh, uhm…" Allen looks startled. "… Well… Theoretically, I guess… My tutors back at the—" He stops, bites his lower lip. "—back where I came from… My tutors back where I came from taught me all about them…"

"Oh…" Realizing she stepped on a landmine, Lenalee sports an apologetic look.

"Allen?"

When the former heir turns around the first thing he thinks is 'Oh my god, Timcampy can talk.' But after considering how impossible that actually is, he turns to Lenalee.

"Did Tim just talk?"

"Oh, I'm surprised brother is contacting you this soon… Go on, talk to it!" she grins.

"Right… uh… Who's this?" Allen says dumbly.

"Oh good, the connection is still the same, I'll just replace Cross' name with yours then…" There's a rustling sound. "....Oh yes, I'd like to see you for a while Allen, it's about your first heist."

"My first what?"

………………………

"A heist is when we steal from a noble family. We always have a specific 'target'. The 'target' is an item that was originally owned by the Order. We always make sure to send someone to do a reconnaissance mission in location to make sure we are pursuing a legitimate target."

Komui Lee stops his lecturing momentarily as he hands Allen a black book. "This is the information you will need for the heist. It will happen tomorrow at the abandoned mountains in the hills just beyond this city. You will be given the appropriate clothing an hour before you set off. Until then, get some rest. You will need a lot of energy for tomorrow, especially since I have decided to send you with Kanda."

Allen first wonders if he heard that right, and when he arrives at the conclusion that yes, he DID hear that right, he says, "So… uh… I'm going to be ALONE? With HIM?"

Komui nods in reply.

"Well I, uh, don't know what to say… Uhm…" The former heir stops, breathes, and then assumes his more assertive personality, the one he uses to deal with Cross' more assertive debt collectors and one night stands. "… So let me get this straight then, you're sending me out to be alone with a guy, a SWORD WIELDING guy, who evidently hates my guts, and might turn out to be my murderer sooner or later?"

The Head Strategist stares at him for a moment, a bit taken aback by the sudden firmness in the white haired teen's tone. "I can see what you're trying to say…" he pauses for a moment to think, "…I'll send someone to accompany you on your mission then, hopefully that will keep Kanda from even attempting to kill you."

Of course, Allen thinks, what Komui just did was provide a possible witness for a murder that would most likely come about. But for that, Allen was already thankful.

…………………….

NOTE: I haven't reread the entire chapter yet. I'm pretty sure I missed some mistakes so, please excuse them until I ask someone to beta for me, thank you!

A/N: I'm sorry it's been a while. Despite the vacation this past Christmas season I still had much to do (I have much to do now too, university life sucks, period). Anyway, I'll update as soon as I can (on the bright side, 3 more months and it's summer vacation here already :). Also, this chapter kinda came to me in a dream, and the reason that it took so long is I didn't really know how to pick up from where my dream left off, haha! (in the dream, there was quite a lot Kanda-oggling to the point that I didn't know if it was still Allen or me who was looking anymore, haha!).

Thank you for reading!


	5. CHAPTER FOUR

**The Thief Lords From Beneath**

**CHAPTER FOUR**

"Why hasn't anyone tried to reclaim this mansion?" Allen personally thinks that with a little work, this abandoned mansion could really be beautiful and one of the most cozy places in the Kingdom.

"Oh, people have tried, Sir Walker, but none have succeeded. The dispute about this piece of land was never settled, forgotten even," says Toma, the man Komui sent with Allen (and Kanda) on their heist. Allen quite likes his company, it makes him feel like he would indeed live another day.

"So if nobody owns it, there won't be anyone there…" the former heir pauses. "… Why did we come armed then?"

"Squatters." In contrast to Toma's calm tone of voice, Kanda's always sounds snappish. "Highly territorial squatters— weren't you supposed to read about that?"

Allen frowns. "It must have just slipped my mind…Territorial squatters?"

"You'd be surprised how little sense the world actually makes, Sir Walker," Toma comments, and Kanda thereafter snorts.

"You sure are NEW to the outside world aren't you, beansprout?" The swordsman snickers after he says it.

"Well excuse ME, it isn't as if I'd lived under a prettily decorated rock by choice," Allen huffs.

Very briefly, Kanda looks like he is amused somewhat, but then his expression shifts to look like he is tired of their conversation. He shrugs "Whatever you say," then takes a few strides as to walk ahead of both Allen and Toma.

"Sir Kanda is normally grumpier, Sir," and it sounded as if Toma is trying to COMFORT him.

The former heir groans. "That doesn't make me feel any better…" because, Allen thinks, this means he should expect worse. "…Thanks for trying to lift my mood though Toma, I appreciate it very much."

Since Toma's mouth is covered in bandages (gauze actually, miraculous that he could talk really), he merely tries his best to smile with his eyes, and nods at Allen politely.

They walk silently for a moment or two until Toma breaks it, "If you don't mind me asking sir, why is your speech pattern unlike that of most Royals?" he inquires.

"Uhm…" Allen bites his lower lip thoughtfully. "…I slip into that speech pattern occasionally—when there's a girl around for example— out of habit I guess… But, anyway, the thing is, once you've roughed it out with Cross Marianne, I cannot imagine anyone retaining their prim and proper way of talking…"

Then, carefully slipping into old habit, he says. "If you would prefer me conversing in my old speech pattern, I shall be happy to oblige though."

"Ah no, I can't ask for anything of the sort, Sir; casual is fine," Toma waves his hands about, though not furiously.

"Ok then, if you're sure…" He pauses. "…Why do you keep calling me Sir?"

"Well, Sir, you're a Lord Heir, it's how we show respect to higher ranked people in the Order."

"Any chance I can get you to stop calling me Sir?"

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Sir, it's how the Order works."

Allen sighs. "…Fine, I understand… Just reminded me of the Palace too much, except everyone there called me _'Sire'._"

Before Toma could reply, Kanda's voice echoes from not too far away, "Stop DALLYING, I don't want some piece of fresh meat STALLING my WORK."

"He's just a bucket of sunshine isn't he," and the former-heir purses his lips.

"He's rarely been this talkative around new people, Sir; perhaps there's something about you that's special in his eyes?"

"Perhaps he finds me especially annoying."

Toma does not comment further (a fact Allen finds he is strangely thankful for), instead they both pick up their pace and catch up with Kanda.

"There's a chance we can get to the target without rousing the squatters…" Kanda turns around to glare at both of them. "…I do NOT want to exert more effort than what's really necessary."

"Got it," Allen replies plainly. No use being defiant in such a situation really.

"If either of you gets attacked, I will not come to save you— you are on your own. I will proceed to the target as if nothing is happening."

"You don't have to warn me about your selfishness, you know." Allen earns a heated scowl but he finds that, strangely, he's beginning to not particularly care. He and Toma then mimic Kanda when the swordsman hides behind some bushes.

"The squatters usually stay in the banquet hall, which is in the middle of the mansion; our target ISN'T there thankfully, but in the Master's bedroom on the second floor." Kanda is talking in a formal, business like tone. He points the sole window in the cylindrical portion of the mansion.

"THAT'S the Master's bedroom; obviously the window is too small for any of us, so we'll have to break in. The only real challenge here is that the grills in the windows are still intact so we can't get through that way without a lot of noise and effort…"

He turns to Toma. "Try to find a weak spot though;,see if any of the grills are broken, but as far as I know, and according to those who had reconnaissance here, they're all still pretty sturdy. But there's a chance they didn't look CLOSE ENOUGH."

He turns to Allen. "Unfortunately, you're coming with me. The only other way to the second floor is through the stairs in study. It's not that far from the banquet hall so I expect you NOT to talk AT ALL while we CREATE our own paths."

"Uhm, why don't we just CREATE a hole on the roof? And drop in through there?" Allen suggests innocently.

"No. Too much noise, we'll attract attention." Kanda looks at him with narrowed eyes.

"Hey, just trying to look for other less taxing options. Besides, hearing out other people's ideas makes for good leadership."

The swordsman rolls his eyes, "Fine. If you have something to say, say it."

"Uhm…" Allen is startled by this civility (albeit _**cold **_civility) somewhat. "Can't we check the windows with Toma first? If it turns out to be a plausible option then we'd save ourselves lots of energy; if we have no other choice but to go through the riskier option, then we'll take that road."

Kanda's eyes narrow. "Look, I'm pretty sure that the window thing isn't really an option, but on the off chance that it can someone can get it through one of them at least Toma can get in, and heck, he's way more experienced than YOU. I'm just letting Toma stay outside to MAKE SURE. But essentially, we should have "NO CHOICE", as you say, but to go for the harder option."

The snow-haired one bites his lower lip and looks thoughtful for a moment. He really doesn't know where he gets the gal to even sort of argue with this man in the first place. Perhaps he is just the sort of person who was born to naturally bicker with. Still, it almost feels like he is deliberately wasting all their time for some reason, Allen feels uneasy about that. It isn't like him. "I get your point, so we go the hard way, and Toma double checks, that's the plan basically?"

"Yes," the swordsman sounds agitated. "Now shut up and let's get on with it"

"You won't hear anything from me," he turns to Toma. "See ya, Toma."

Toma gives him a little wave.

………………………….

Allen thinks he's having too much fun with this (this being more of getting on Kanda's nerves than the actual heist). Obviously, they have given him a pretty easy heist. Easy, because he is with a guy who takes his job seriously, and is very efficient. Perhaps they are actually testing his people skills more than his… _**stealing**_ skills.

"If anything happens that wasn't in the plan, I will blame YOU," Kanda says before they enter the house, and Allen thinks that yes, they are definitely testing his people skills.

"If that's what makes you happy," the former heir decides to say, and he gives Kanda a fake smile; the kind he used to give Earl Millennium when he was still a palace crony.

The swordsman rolls his eyes in reply to that statement; he taps his pocket and his black golem flies out.

Apparently they need golems to record the proceedings of a heist; this is a system they use to judge the Lord Heirs of their worthiness, and in some cases, fish out traitors. Every thief has one; the Lord Heirs just have golems with extra capabilities, including a form of communication. Why they only brought the golems out now is because they are only required to record the heist proper visually; the events before could be just voice recording.

"Do I have to bring Timcampy out too?" asks Allen.

Keeping a stoic expression, Kanda replies, "If that's what makes you happy."

The former heir purses his lips and furrows his eyebrows at that, but taps his own pocket to bring Timcampy out.

Kanda double checks their surroundings. Then he proceeds to peek into a window to make sure nobody is in the room they will first enter. When he is sure that nobody is watching them, and when he is sure that there is nobody in the room, Kanda says, "Let's move."

Suppressing the urge not to joke around and wiggle in reply, Allen just nods. There will be other chances to piss Kanda off.

They enter the house through the back door. Kanda picks the lock and manages to open it in less than ten seconds. The room they enter obviously used to be the mansion's dirty kitchen. Without missing a beat, they begin to move, slowly. The two carefully pace themselves as to not make the floor creak and not to make the doors squeak.

Kanda is reluctantly impressed by how Allen is actually managing to do quite well (he isn't fumbling in the least), while the snow-haired one is just thankful that he needed this skill back when he was still with Cross Marianne. How else would he have retrieved all of his sort-of guardian's stuff without waking up his pretty one night stands? Those situations turned out to be good practice for this. Allen entertains the thought that those crazy situations he was put in before was actually just training. Then he decides that it was probably just coincidence. PROBABLY.

It does not take long for them to reach the next room, which is the dining room. Kanda makes a tiny hole on the wall to check if there is anyone there before they enter. Allen is impressed with how dedicated the swordsman is to avoiding the squatters; he supposes it is better for the secret nature of the Black Order, but Kanda still seems like the type who would actually WANT to start brawls.

The location they arrive at is a hallway, Allen vaguely remembers the map of the mansion, but doesn't exactly know where the "study" is. Kanda seems to know what he's doing, so Allen just follows his lead, though he makes a mental note to ask Komui to give him his mission details a week before so he can study them thoroughly (and memorize them by heart).

Kanda stops in front of a door and twists the doorknob without checking if there's anyone inside the study. The door is locked. The swordsman looks unsurprised by this, and in fact, he seems to be expecting it.

Allen wonders why on earth it would be locked if it is the only way to the second floor. He is surprised when Kanda turns to him and whispers, "There's someone in the second floor, their leader perhaps…"

The former heir can't think of anyone else who would be so high and mighty as to situate himself on a higher floor than the rest, so he presumes Kanda to be right.

"Be ready, we might need to fight after all," the swordsman continues, and he grimaces after his own remark, obviously hating the way things have turned out.

Allen nods, and Kanda turns back to the door to pick the lock. They open the door slowly, careful to not make any sound, and are relieved to not be greeted by anybody upon their entrance. A spiral staircase is in the far end of the room, but before the former heir could move towards there, Kanda stops him.

Allen turns to him and sees the swordsman wearing an alert expression; he's scowling in the direction of the desk in the room.

"Show yourself," Kanda shouts. Allen is amazed when a figure emerges from behind (or is it underneath?) the desk.

He is a man clad in tattered formal clothing, long sleeve button-down shirt that looks like it used to be white, black (and stained) slacks, and a pair of leather shoes (right one bore a hole and his big toe was slipping through). The man stood with dignity, as if his clothes are clean and brand new instead of old and dirty. "I didn't think you would notice me," he said. "… I heard you trying to open the door."

"I heard YOU talking to yourself," Ah, this explains why Kanda thought it better to twist the door knob instead of making a hole on the wall (or door).

"I guess we just both gave ourselves away then," the man was obviously trying to seem cultured, maybe even regal.

The swordsman snorts, and Allen thinks that this is him gloating about how HE gave them away on PURPOSE while the other man did so to himself unthinkingly. Kanda doesn't say anything more, instead he heads for the stairs, and Allen follows.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to go there," says the man, making them stop just when they were about to climb up.

Kanda turns his head to look at him, raises an eyebrow in what Allen takes to be the 'why-ever-not?' way.

"Well, because if you do I'll be forced to take drastic measures" the former heir finds himself chuckling out loud at that, because the man looks scrawny even compared to himself, and he is obviously unarmed (on the other hand, he is in the company of a swordsman who seems to be skilled in his art).

"Really now?" Allen says, still chuckling at the hilarity of it, he turns to look at Kanda and sees the man scowling at him. 'Shoot,' thinks the snow-haired one. 'What did I do?'

An insanely strange thing happens: the man screams so loud that Allen and Kanda both cover ears in fear of becoming deaf. When the screaming stops, Allen just gapes.

"My cavalry will arrive!!!" the man announces.

And before Allen can even THINK about how stupid that statement is, his scowling companion tells him, "This is all your fault."

…………………….

I reread this chapter to correct the more obvious mistakes, I seriously need a beta with lots of time on his/her hands though (or at least a beta who works really fast), anyone have any suggestions?

(**A/N: **Not-so-miraculously, I have found time to update. University has kept me stressed and busy (to the point that I felt like I would be driven to tears), but that's over FOR NOW, because it's summer over here in my country and I'm on summer vacation! Utilizing my first idle moments, I finished this chapter up! I sort of don't know if this still feels consistent with the previous chapters, but even in DGM canon I thought Allen was always more casual when he's with Kanda, if only because they get on each other's nerves, and so I stuck with more casual speech patterns for this chapter. He'll fall into casual speech patterns when talking to the others in the future, but for now, maybe "casual" will be reserved strictly for Cross and Kanda, both of whom are people he will tend to bicker with in this universe of mine. The love story here is supposed to take a while, in fact, after this heist, we probably won't see a lot of Kanda, but since he is my favorite, he will still make many appearances. Also I am aware that my characterization of Kanda here is different from canon in the way that he's "nicer" somewhat. I made it that way because I think Kanda would be different if his past was different, so a nicer but still grumpy and mean him is what came about. Haha, anyway, will update more from now on, thank you for reading!)


	6. CHAPTER FIVE

**The Thief Lords From Beneath**

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Allen supposes that yes, perhaps this is really all his fault, perhaps Kanda is onto something when he'd just ignored the crazy man. There is a low rumbling echoing throughout the house and the former heir couldn't help but repeat every single curse his companion said through gritted teeth (if only in his mind).

This is a bad situation.

They would be facing extremely territorial squatters for sure, and by the sound of it their numbers aren't as small as he will have liked them to be. If you think about it though this is all Cross Marianne's fault— he wouldn't even _**be**_ here if it isn't for him, and if he isn't here, then Kanda would have finished the heist with no problem. Although, he is probably just making excuses right now, and it isn't as if he can do anything about his existence in this situation.

"This is all _**your fucking fault,**_" Kanda exclaims with passion. "I'm going to head up, you deal with this."

And Allen supposes that was fair… ish…

So Kanda leaves, rather quickly in fact. He just speeds up those stairs with gay abandon (those are the exact words that Allen thought, and it's not as if he is in the right mind to think of proper descriptions).

"Oh gods in heaven," the snow-haired boy breathes out when the door starts opening. The crazy man is laughing like a maniac, and he is pointing his right index finger at Allen, which to the former heir is rather annoying _**and **_disturbing at the same time.

"Prepare to _**die**_!"

'_Oh hell, this bloke is their _**leader**_?' _Allen thinks.

The door busts open, hinges popping out, and falls onto the floor. A flood of people storm in but surprisingly, Allen notes, there's only about twenty of them. Well that isn't so bad a number, he could fight them off.

"The rest have headed to the secret staircase to go after the one who went upstairs."

'_Now how the hell did he manage to tell them to do _**that,**' Allen thinks, briefly considering if there is some sort of code in that scream earlier that allowed him to do so, if so, maybe he had underestimated this maniac.

"I'm sorry, I have to do this," Allen says calmly. "If it's any comfort, I'll make sure not to kill any of you."

"You should be worrying about yourself!" crazy leader man exclaims, and it really is getting annoying, thinks Allen, so he doesn't opt to answer.

It is time to fend these people off, the only way he knows how. He is reluctantly thankful for Cross Marianne at this moment (even a bastard has his uses). The man taught him to do something that he thinks so few people would be able to manage. This is a skill that all people of Dorian were born with, but it is a skill which only became significantly powerful with very few. Now that he thinks about it, perhaps the Lord Heirs are some of those few, and the Thief Lords are those with most immense power. The King of Dorian, Earl Millennium, and all his heirs are also users of this art. An art all simply call magic, although really it wasn't something so simple. It is more than just sorcery; you use your own life force for this, and that makes it more complicated, dangerous, and powerful.

Closing his eyes, Allen slowly channels his energy into his right arm and breathes deeply. He doesn't notice the gapes filled with horror and curiosity on the faces of the people around him as his body glows green and his arm turns red and wrinkled. A cross appears on the back of his right hand, seemingly embedded. He abruptly increases the amount of force he channels onto his hand. It swells, no, _**grows**_ into a giant claw that looks almost metallic if it isn't so obviously alive. It is shiny, shiny silver.

Slowly, his blue eyes open, and he strikes. It is like slapping, his actions, but his huge silver arm has force much more immense than the normal human hand. He knocks down the crowd of twenty easily; almost just in the blink of an eye, he shoves them to the walls, rendering them unconscious. Then he briskly turns to their leader, and grabs his thin frame with his magically enhanced arm.

"You!" The man exclaims, eyes wide, but his expression is surprisingly not tinged with fear.

"Uhm, Yes?" Allen says, in a polite tone despite the situation.

"You must be a god!" He replies, looking very serious about it

"Whatever makes you happy," the former heir replies, and then knocks the man unconscious.

"Tim? Did you get all that?" Allen turns around to say; the winged golden ball pops out from behind a bookshelf and does something akin to a nod. The snow-haired one grins and proceeds to make the life force distribution in his body equal again. "We should head up and look for Kanda."

……………………..

'_The bean is a fucking moron,' _thinks Kanda as he quietly stomps down a hallway. He is headed towards their target's alleged location and had left the so-called idiotic beansprout behind.

_'This would have never happened if I went alone,' _he thinks. _'Why the fucking hell would that damn sister-complex strategist let the stupid pathetic excuse for a Lord Heir along, it's…. it's _**bad strategy **_that's what it is.' _Kanda stops abruptly when he realizes that the hallways, for some reason or other, are getting narrowing. _'Fucking hell, what now?' _

Singing, he hears singing. It is a female voice; strange really, it is coming from up ahead. There isn't supposed to be anyone around. He makes a mental note to complain about the incompetence of the reconnaissance team sent. He walks forward advancing further into the hall that is beginning to feel endless. It is getting darker, which was disturbing considering the entire left side of the hall is covered with windows.

"The singing's getting louder."

He isn't scared, he is just getting into mission mode, and that often involves him announcing obvious facts to himself.

Two more doors down and he'll be where he needs to be. He takes a few strides and he's there. Not even bothering to be discreet about opening the door (because he guesses his presence was announced pretty blatantly by the mad man's scream), he pulls out his sword from its sheath, steps back and then charges to take down the door with an ax kick.

Cautiously, he enters the room. Weirdly, he finds that there is nothing there._** Literally **_nothing _**at all**_, the walls and floor are painted brown but the coat is peeling to reveal the grey stone beneath it. Frustrated with the fact that he found nothing, Kanda huffs, but then decides to inspect the room anyway, it is, obviously, special. After scrutinizing the walls, he finds nothing. He steps out the room for a moment and inspects the hall.

The door he has just entered through is the final door in the hallway, but it extends further; he doubts this is just mere coincidence, and they just made the wall extra thick there to balance out the exterior design. So he reenters the room, and knocks on the left wall to find a hollow portion. It doesn't take long for him to find one, and makes himself an entrance; His kicks were really amazing sometimes.

He does enter another room, and to his surprise Toma is there. "Were you able to get the target?" he asks the lower thief nonchalantly, but Toma just stares at him with wide eyes.

There is something wrong with this picture.

Channeling his life force onto his sword, he turned around to find that an equally wide eyed bean is there, but something is even_** more**_ wrong with that picture. The bean's scar, which everyone from the Order seemed to just try to ignore, is on the wrong side of his face.

"A mirror demon," he mutters and it almost sounds like a hiss.

Before he realizes it he's been thrown against a wall.

……………………..

And so, Allen Walker is not-so surprised to find himself lost.

"Any ideas, Tim?" he asks, trying not to sound desperate. The flying golden ball shakes himself from side to side as if to say "No." Allen looks disappointed.

He hears a crash. "Follow that sound Tim!" he shouts, Timcampy obliges and heads to his left.

It turns out that he isn't so far from where he is supposed to be going. He is just two hallways off. Eerily, this hallway is darker than the other hallways he's passed by. The fact is made even more strange by how this hallway had windows lined all through the left wall. He heads down, walking as briskly as he can, and stops before the door which had been torn down. Kanda's work no doubt. He enters to find a hole in a wall, and thinks that yes, the swordsman had been here. He carefully makes his way to the next room and is not pleasantly surprised to find that Kanda has been pinned to the wall by some sort of demon and is bleeding profusely.

"Holy shit!" Allen exclaims, and prayed to all the gods that Kanda is not—

"Your friend's dead, he is," the demon says calmly, and the former heir can't help but be freaked out by this.

'_Fucking hell, the damn fucking demon's _**talking,**_' _he thinks, while briskly channeling lots of life force to his arm again. Not even a second later it's back to its silver form.

"And you're next." The demon charges and Allen shields himself with his arm. He dares a glance at Kanda, whose hair tie has gone loose, and whose long raven hair is covering his bloodied face. The man sits limp against the wall, and doesn't really look like he was breathing.

_'Shit, well this mission is sucking beyond anything I ever imagined.'_

He hasn't fought that many demons before; they aren't exactly uncommon in Dorian, but living in a Royal Palace and living in the red light district (yes, that's where he and Cross lived) never really gave you many opportunities to come across a demon.

Suddenly Allen hears a girl singing, very peculiar. He gets distracted, and the demon manages to destroy his protective stance. He doesn't even get to scream a curse when the demon's claw descends on him. The pain he expects never comes however, and when he looks up to see what had happened Kanda is there, blocking the swipe with his sword.

"Kanda! You're alive!" Allen exclaims, sounding relieved.

"Shut up!" Kanda replies uncaringly.

The demon looks surprised, or at least, Allen gathers that's what the expression is.

"But you were dead," the monster says, and now, the snow-haired boy thinks, the expression is in fact confusion.

"I won't die yet you fucking bastard," he exerts forward force and the demon falls back. "I've got things to do, a person to see."

Briefly, Allen wonders if the mistake in the expression is intentional, but lets it go in favor of attacking the demon. Said monster slams into the wall on the far end of the room.

"What the fuck were you doing, bean?" Kanda screams and Allen knows right away that the man's referring to him getting distracted.

He grins. "And you said you wouldn't protect me no matter what."

"Shut the fuck _**up.**_"

Ok, so he was in a bad mood, and teasing was probably up there among the worst things Allen could do at the moment.

The swordsman charges, and Allen follows closely behind him; they both deliver the final blow.

"Hnh, over even before it started," Allen remarks, looking smug.

Kanda rolls his eyes.

The snow-haired boy grins again before turning serious and saying. "I heard singing, where do you suppose that came from?"

"I was thinking it came from here, but I wasn't able to come across anything except for some illusions and that demon," he gestures towards the fallen monster with his head.

"Do you suppose she's the target?"

"How can she be the target? We're not kidnappers you stupid—" he stops ranting abruptly, Allen raises an eyebrow. "Unless there's magic involved," he says and then he slaps his forehead, he will _**really**_ make it a point to complain about the incompetence of the recon team.

"How do we get to her? Err… It?"

"Use your senses."

"My senses?"

"Fish out where magic's being used, she'll be there."

Allen knows how to do that easily, this is however something Cross Marianne _**didn't**_ teach him. He moves his life force from his arm to his scarred eye. It flares up—sort of, not really, nevertheless…

"Holy _**shit,**_" Kanda exclaims. "What the fucking hell is going on with your eye?"

…………………….

**A/N: **Lots of cursing for this chapter felt it was appropriate given their situation and given that Allen lived in the red light district for a while, and Kanda has been a thief for a quite while. Usually I get lazy when writing fic and skip a lot of parts, this is the first time I'm going through a lot of details. I fear that I might get frustrated with my own slow pacing, haha. This chapter is actually up later than I'd wanted it to be up because I was in Hong Kong last week with my family and was therefore laptop-less. Next chapter will be up in a few days (hopefully), but until then, I hope you enjoyed this one (:

BTW: I have a beta for this story now! Thanks much to my dear friend **Ame Mika'zuki** for agreeing to be this story's beta. BUUUT our system is I post the chapter first THEN she edits : So by the time that you guys see this chap, it might still be hot off the fingertips.


	7. CHAPTER SIX

**The Thief Lords from Beneath**

**CHAPTER SIX**

"Calm down Kanda, it's just magic, you use it, I use it," Allen is trying to be casual about this; he has had his suspicions about his powers, how they were, for the lack of a word, _**different**_ from the magic of most people he's met. The fact that Kanda is making a scene is probably proof of the fact, but he still prefers to give himself the benefit of the doubt.

"I sense black magic." It isn't surprising really, that Kanda's glaring at him furiously, but the former heir finds himself cringing.

"Really?" he replies weakly, wishing that the swordsman would just set the issue aside for now.

Kanda grunts and Allen catches him rolling his eyes-- his wish is granted. "I'll get back to that eye of yours when we report to the Head Strategist; for now we're heading for where that voice is coming from."

"Right," Allen replies, business first, of course. He scans the room, the strange red aura surrounding his scared eye pulsating rapidly. "There's some decent amount of magic being used inhat direction and I doubt it's any of our friendly resident squatters," the former heir remarks, pointing to the wall in front of them. It is the wall that is supposedly separating the room they are in from the outside.

Kanda brushes off what he takes to be an attempt to be funny and witty, and examines the wall. Minutes pass and the swordsman is still just placing his palms in random parts of the wall (or at least Allen thinks they are random, he couldn't figure out a pattern of any sort). "Channel your life force into your arm again."

"Why?" Allen could predict the answer to this question of his, he immediately regrets asking it.

"_**Just do it.**_"

And conceding to the command he knew would come, the former heir transfers all his life force from his eye to his arm, which immediately morphs into its silver form.

"Now what?" The snow-haired one asks, looking at his companion questioningly.

Much to Allen's surprise, Kanda positions himself behind him, and places his hands on his shoulders. "Walk," he said. "And make sure your hand goes first."

The former heir just obeys, places his large silver palm on the wall, and gasps softly when a pool of silver liquid appears beneath his hand.

"Stop gawking, bean," Kanda says irritably, pushing Allen forward.

Not a second later, they're through the silver pool and in another room. The first thing the former heir thinks when he catches his breath and looks around is that the room is very old. The furniture is covered in dusty cloth, and practically everything in the room looks like it is from a past century. On another note, the place is huge, and Allen wonders who would bother to conceal all this with magic; is their target just _**that **_special?

"Who could be supplying the magic to hide this place?" It is meant to be a rhetorical question, but Kanda answers him.

"Probably the one who's supplying the magic for that singing girl."

'_Assuming that it isn't the singing girl herself who's doing all this,' _Allen is about to add, but then the swordsman's eyes grow wide.

"What's wro—"

"Stay on your guard!" Kanda snaps, hissing thereafter. He transfers his life force into his sword and looks around the room cautiously.

"What's going on Kanda?" The former heir asks with a serious tone, looking around just as guardedly.

Whatever the swordsman mutters after that is probably a curse. "I've made a mistake, a damn fucking stupid mistake."

"What?" Allen gives him an incredulous look; he hasn't known Kanda that long but he doesn't seem like the type to overlook things during a heist.

"There are _**two**_ mirror demons," the swordsman says through gritted teeth. "Let's advance, be wary of your surroundings, the demon can be _**anyone**_ of these things."

Abruptly, they hear the girl erupt into song again. The sound of her voice echoes throughout the room. It's a beautiful sound, her voice is lovely, but at the same time the effect it has is eerie. Just as abruptly as it had began however, the song stops.

"Why do you think there are _**two **_of them?"

"When I first came to that room we were in, I saw that lower thief, Toma—" Allen tries his best not to comment on the term 'lower thief' "—but it felt like something was _**off**_ with him, I turned around sensing someone behind me and there you were, except it wasn't really you obviously, it was a mirror demon."

And Allen gathers, that in the second Kanda realized that, he is thrown against the wall. "And how does that proves that there are two mirror demons?"

"They were there at the same time, the two fakes, when I was turning around I could see them _**both **_from the corner of my eye, but then I was attacked and then I had to save _**you**_ so I really didn't really think about that fact much until now…"

"Couldn't the mirror demon have just made both co—"

"Cross didn't teach you _**anything**_ did he? Mirror demons don't _**make**_ copies of things and beings, they _**become**_ a copy."

Ignoring the insults, Allen says, "So you think this mirror demon is behind all this? Setting aside its lack of actual intelligence, I don't think the demon has that much magical power."

"It could have leveled up—" Kanda grimaces, he seems disgusted with his own words for some reason "—or there could be a puppet master behind all this, either way, there's _**another**_ mirror demon, and we'll have to deal with it."

Allen is about to ask another question when they hear a voice calling Kanda's name.

"Sir Kanda!" It goes.

"Toma?" Allen asks to the general direction of the voice.

Kanda's black golem descends to level with the former heir's face, "Yes, Sir Walker, it is me, we have a situation sirs."

"Report" the swordsman says.

"The windows are shut solid sir, no bars are broken, and the squatters are closing up all other exits." Toma says, worry in his tone.

"_**Great,**_" Kanda says. "Just _**great.**_"

And as if on cue a demon leaps from behind them. Sensing the movement, and seeing the obvious large shadow looming above them, Allen and Kanda simultaneously put on a defensive stance and block the attack. The previous demon looked more like a thin demonic clown than anything; this one looks more demented. Its chest had a face and the Roman numeral two on it (the former to the right, the latter to the left). Its face looks like it had a net over it, and its disgustingly long tongue is sticking out, Allen didn't even want to _**look**_ at the thing's lower extremities. He exerts as much upward force as he can to push the demon off. From the sound of his companion's scream, he thinks Kanda did the same.

"So you were right after all," Allen comments, to which Kanda replies with a loud, irritated exclaim of the word 'focus'.

The swordsman swiftly lifts his sword up into a horizontal position, carefully positioning it adjacent to his neck and shifting his right hand to the end of the sword handle near the blade. He lifts his left palm to touch the other end of the handle and mutters a few words thereafter swishing the sword to his right. In his sword's wake appears ghostly bug-eyed skeletons (snake skeletons from the looks of it, although it didn't seem to be as simple as that). The skeletons briskly charge for the demon, it all happens so fast that neither the demon nor Allen has any time to think before there's a brief flash of light and the demon falls limply to the ground.

The former heir gapes for a few seconds, Kanda returns his sword to its scabbard, and dusts himself. "Why didn't you do that before?"

"This is a higher leveled demon; I would have been wasting precious life force if I attacked the first demon the same way," the swordsman says, a tinge of mockery in his tone. "Now make good use of _**your**_ life force and scan the room for the target."

"Why didn't you think of that before? Using my abilities to search the room I mean…" Allen teases as he channeled his life force into his eye again. "And why can't you do it yourself?"

Kanda shoots him a glare, "So you fucking expect me to do all the thinking for you? Why didn't _**you **_think of it bean? _**You're**_ the one with the strong senses, mine are just above average. Of course, I never use _**black magic**_."

The snow-haired one bites his lower lip, frustrated over how the swordsman has an actual point (except he isn't really using black magic darn it!). He probably needs to do a lot of explaining once they get back to the Order. Sighing in defeat, he turns around, scans the parts of the room they'd already walked past, then turns around again, and walks forwards slowly, eyes frantically darting in every direction. They hear the girl singing again, high pitched voice echoing throughout the room.

"I can't single her out," Allen says, sounding frustrated. "This entire room suddenly radiated with magic."

"It happened after you began surveying the room?"

"I'm guessing you felt that sudden surge of life force too?"

Kanda takes that question as a yes then says, "There _**is**_ someone pulling all the strings here."

'_Which probably means we're in for another fight,_' Allen thinks. "Alright, having said that, how do we pinpoint our target?"

The swordsman looks thoughtful for a moment. "Do you know any draining techniques?"

"No, that's black magic," the former heir looks offended.

Kanda snorts, "Exactly."

Allen takes a step forward, face furious. "Are you accusing me of being Weed?"

"A Weed? Nothing of the sort, you're too strong for that, I'd say you're a full-fledged _**Willick**_."

"I am _**not**_ a Willi—" Blue eyes grow wide, as the snow haired one stills suddenly. "Do mirror demons dissolve into thin air when they die?"

Kanda raises an eyebrow. "No."

"Oh, well, _**damn**_. This could be bad." He points towards where the demon had fallen, Kanda quickly turns to look and finds that the demon is not there, his eyes widen.

"We have to—" a sound interrupts the swordsman's words; the two briskly fixate their gazes towards the general direction of the noise and see a bright light at the far left corner of the room. Allen channels his life force into his arm once again, and Kanda channels his into his sword.

"_**Move**_," Kanda says, but he doesn't really need to because both of them are already running.

"The magic's really strong there!" Allen exclaims.

"No shit, beansprout!" The swordsman shouts in reply.

The former heir huffs. "No, I mean it's _**really**_ strong, how could a mirror demon be _**that **_strong."

"You don't know much about leveled up demons do you?"

"Well apparently _**you **_don't either! Else we wouldn't be having this problem!"

"Look, bean, cut the shit for now; we've got work to do."

"It wasn't as if _**I **_started it."

"But you had the option to ignore it."

Allen grunts in frustration, turns to Kanda when he says, "You're so _**hypocritical**_ you… you… _**effeminate bastard**_ you!"

"That's nice coming from a former prince, Earl Millennium raised you well."

"Now see here, Earl Millennium did _**not **_raise m—" suddenly Allen is thrown back by glowing green force, it takes a few moments for the former heir to get into defensive position to start pushing back against the force. It becomes apparent that he's also been left behind. _'Stupid Kanda, distracting me and then leaving me behind,' _he screams in frustration and somehow that's all he needs to win against the green force.

Allen scans the room, panting. It's eerily quiet until another blast occurs, the frustrated screaming voice tells him Kanda's involved. The former heir takes a deep breath then sprints for the direction of the now roaring loud fighting sounds.

……………………….

**You may or may not be reading an edited version of this chapter (refer to A/N in chapter 5 for details)**

**NOTES:**

**Black Magic**—'regular magic' utilizes 'life force' as its power source, life force draws power from 'pure' part of one's soul, some people are born with the tendency to gravitate towards black magic, in such cases the 'pure' part of their soul is smaller compared to others and so they draw energy from the impure part, some people _**choose**_ to do so even if they are not born with the tendency, however utilizing the force of the impure part of the soul is very much frowned upon in Dorian and supposedly _**forbidden **_in the Order, but—(more on this in a later chapter)

**Weed **–a person who was born with the tendency to use black magic

**Willick**—a person who has highly developed skills in black magic, one does not need to have been a Weed to be a Willick

(definitions are all made up and are therefore my property?)

Also, the golems don't appear as much, as they tend to hide during heists in places where it's easy to document, but difficult to get hurt or caught during a battle. They are however, swift to return to their owner's side when there is a call or something else of equal or greater importance.

**A/N:** Actually, this chapter, the previous chapter, and the coming chapter could easily all just be one chapter, but since I want to have almost the same number of words for every chapter, I cut them up, you could say I'm sort of mimicking the way James Patterson makes his chapters (except not really, I don't know, haha). Next chapter would likely be up in the coming week, expect familiar DGM characters from Volume 2 or DGM (: Thank you for reading!


	8. CHAPTER SEVEN

**The Thief Lords from Beneath**

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

It doesn't take long at all to get to where Kanda was fighting. And Allen says _**was **_fighting because he is currently being crushed under the demon's enlarged foot, and was bleeding again, staining his already stained clothes.

"Get the girl," Kanda says in a coarse voice. The former fourteenth heir takes a quick look around and spots a scared-looking blonde girl who is in the arms of a cloaked man whose face is covered by an old scruffy wizard hat. The snow-haired one turns back to look at the swordsman, moves as if he is intending to save him, but a loud shout from the other Lord Heir stops him in his tracks.

"Get the fucking girl, you stupid fucking bean!" And by the sound of his voice the demon is probably crushing his lungs. "Get the damn girl and get the hell out of here!"

"But what about yo—"

"_**I can take care of myself**_," and although Kanda says that, Allen hesitates for a moment and then approaches the girl and the mysterious man, he morphs his hand back to its normal human shape as he walks. The two are sitting in one corner, huddled together. Allen bends down to roughly level his head with theirs then reaches out a hand, plastering a friendly smile on his face.

"Hello, my name is Allen Walker; could the young lady come with me please?" The former heir can't help but ponder on the accuracy of the statement, because somehow there is something about the girl that felt inhuman.

The girl shakes her head to say no, curly golden locks sashaying with the movement. She looks terrified. She clings to the cloaked man and buries her face into his chest.

Allen frowns, ponders for a moment then says, "It's dangerous here, if you both come with me that would be alright." But the girl just shakes her head again; the former heir decides to keep on pressing them, "I strongly believe that it's for the best if w—"

A shadow looms over the three of them, and Allen's words are interrupted by the loud scream of the girl as a large hand (that decidedly belonged to the demon) swooped down to grab her.

"Lala!" the cloaked man shouts, and by the sound of his voice, Allen could tell he is very old.

The former heir charges, his arm morphing into its silver form once again, then shouts as he jumps and attempts to punch the demon on the face. He fails, quite miserably, as the demon dodges. Allen falls to the ground, but lands on his feet, sees Kanda a meter or two from where he is and then thinks _'Oh gods in heaven, please say he's just fainted'_. Not even a second after he gets attacked again, Allen moves into defensive position, he grits his teeth as he's slowly getting pushed back.

He hears a groan come from behind him, and feels relief wash over him, his companion is alive. But then he hears an angry voice and his relief falters.

"What the fuck were you doing!" the swordsman shouts. "I should have stalled long enough for you to get the hell out of here!"

"I couldn't convince them to come with me!" Allen shouts in reply.

"What the fuck? You don't _**ask**_ them if they want to come a long—"Kanda stands up, charges his sword with life force, and runs towards the demon to cut the arm pushing Allen back, all those he executes in less than five seconds "—you just _**take**_ the target whether they like it or not, your priority is supposed to be the _**heist**_."

"But—"

The swordsman interrupts him with a grunt of frustration. "You just keep ticking me off!" he screams. He then proceeds to somehow cutting off the arm of the demon that held the girl. "Get the girl!" Kanda commands and Allen quickly does just that.

"You're ok now," the snow-haired one says to the blonde. "Now let's leave before—"

"No!" she shouts, surprising the former heir with her ability to talk. "Please! Guzol's going to stop moving soon! I need to be with him until the end!" And she's crying. Allen is decidedly weak to girls crying. He smiles at her reassuringly, carries her over his shoulder (earning a shocked gasp from the girl) and heads towards the one she calls Guzol.

"Bean! What the fuck do you think you're doing!" Kanda shouts as he continues to fight with the demon.

"She won't leave without him, and neither will I!" And because of that statement, the swordsman thinks that the Order gave him the wrong partner for this heist.

"You're a disgrace!" Kanda shouts, not caring if he sounded petty. "A pathetic excuse for a Lord Heir!"

"It's not as if we aren't going to be able to finish the heist this wa—"Allen's words are interrupted by the pained scream of his raven haired companion. The demon's newly regenerated hand is gripping the swordsman tightly.

The former heir puts Lala down back in the arms of Guzol.

"Stay here," he says, then turns around to charge at the demon, arm morphing into what looked like a large gun. He aims for where he thinks the demon's heart may be, and the blinding beam pierces the creature's chest. The demon's grip on Kanda falters and the swordsman falls to the ground. The demon stills completely. Allen sighs in relief and falls on his knees, eyes gazing at the ground as he pants in exhaustion.

His eyes widen when a shadow appears and looks up a little too late as the demon's hand descends upon him. He closes his eyes and expects a load of pain but it never comes.

"You're pathetic."

Allen's eyes open at the sound of Kanda's voice; he sees the swordsman blocking the attack with the sword. "How could you lose steam at such a crucial moment?"

The former heir laughs weakly. "Is that anyway to thank me?"

"Who's thanking you? You can't even hold down your own fucking fort."

"Says the man whose ass I just saved a few minutes ago."

"_**Shut the fuck up**_." With that, Kanda pushes upward, and the demon falls back. He charges forwards to deliver another blow, and Allen joins him. Two agitated shouts and a flash of blinding light later, the demon turns to dust.

The two of them stand there catching their breaths, expressions brimming with the satisfaction of victory (which meant that Allen was grinning madly and that Kanda had a tiny _**tiny **_smirk on his face).

"Guzol!" the girl suddenly shouts. The two turn their heads briskly to the old man coughing out blood. Allen approaches hesitantly, Kanda stays in place.

"Lala… please…" the man wheezes. "…sing for me one last time… I don't think I can last much longer."

With tears streaming down her face incessantly, the girl nods then opens her mouth to sing. This time Allen doesn't think the song to be eerie at all; this time it's just beautiful. The sound overwhelms him, a nice tingly feeling coursed through his body, and despite the pity he felt for this man named Guzol, he thinks that dying while listening to this beautiful song isn't such a bad way to go. Guzol is smiling and crying, caressing Lala's face. The blonde girl's eyes are closed, but she is also crying, and she just sings, sings as if she is going to die as well. When Guzol's hand falls to the ground, and his body falls limp, she stops singing simultaneously.

Allen can feel Kanda glaring daggers at him, but he guesses the swordsman is feeling too much pain at the moment to rant on about the former heir's alleged stupidity and/or weakness. They're silent for a while, the swordsman because he's tending to his wounds by tearing parts of his clothing, Allen because he's choosing to pay some respect. After letting a few moments pass, the snow-haired boy slowly and gently places a hand on Lala's shoulder, she has her back turned to him so he couldn't see her face, but he guessed she must have looked heartbroken.

"It'd be best if we go, Miss…" Allen said softly, but the girl does not move. "…I can… We can have a burial outside if you want…" He tries again, but she still doesn't move, he moves to her side so he can see her face, but when he does he immediately he gasps, hand flailing a bit, and Lala falls on her back. The impact sounds like wood on wood, and indeed that's what Lala looks like at that moment.

A wooden doll.

"She… She's a doll!' Allen exclaims.

Kanda frowns at him, approaches Lala, and pries her legs from beneath Guzol's corpse. The former heir is just gaping at him, looking offended, and thinking Kanda is being very inconsiderate at that moment (he believed in utmost respect for the dead). The swordsman moves Lala's hair so he can see the back of her neck and then turns to look at Allen. "It's confirmed, she's our target."

"Ho—"

Kanda roughly grabs the doll's head and shoves her (it) towards the former heir. Allen inspects her neck and sees a cross similar to that of what the Order's door and Timcampy have on them.

"Jasper luRim's insignia," the swordsman announces. "It undoubtedly belongs to the Order."

The former heir makes a face; it is still weird to think about Jasper luRim as a real historical figure instead of just a character from a work of fiction. "I—I can see that…" Allen turns to look at Guzol. "What do we do about him?"

"Nothing" Kanda answers plainly.

"What! We can't just—We should give him a proper burial at least."

"It's none of our business, bean."

"But it's the least we could do! We're taking Lala from him after all!"

"_**It's none of our damn business**_. We're here for the doll. We have her, the heist is done. We're not allowed to meddle with anything above ground, at least if we're not doing it for the heist. We would be jeopardizing the _**secret**_ existence of the Order."

Allen bites his lower lip. "I understand, but—"

"No you _**don't **_understand, because if you did, we would be on our way out of here, and there would be no arguments."

"But it isn't as if anyone will find out about the existence of the Order just because we buried somebody!"

Kanda hisses at him, takes Lala from his arms. "Do what you want, I'm heading back."

"You're bleeding like hell," Allen says. "You might not make it back alone."

"Well if that's how you feel, then why don't you stop insisting on burying him!" Kanda screams, and then he coughs, and when he does blood comes out. He mutters a curse.

"See! I'm pretty sure you're lungs were crushed back there, and I'm pretty sure you're standing on willpower alone so—"

"—So if you keep me waiting, I'll _**die**_."

They glare at each other for a moment or two. The eye contact is broken when Allen exclaims, "You're an unfeeling bastard!" And then he shouts, very loudly, "Timcampy!"

The golden ball comes fluttering down.

"Contact Toma."

Tim does something akin to a nod and obliges.

"Toma, where are you?" Allen says when Timcampy signals he can speak, he tries not to sound snappish but he fails.

"I'm hiding behind some bushes near the back entrance, Sir."

"Right" Allen says, and thereafter grabs Guzol's body walks towards the back to the room.

"What are you doi—"before Kanda finishes the sentence, the former heir punches a large hole into the wall with the silver form of his arm. He briskly turns around and grabs Kanda with the same hand, by the waist.

"You're pretty skinny," Allen comments.

"The hell!" Kanda shouts angrily. "I am not skinny!"

"Whatever makes you happy, Kanda," and he jumps out of the building.

………………….

**You may or may not be reading an edited version of this chapter (refer to A/N in chapter 5 for details)**

**A/N: **Yeay! The heist is finally over! I suck at writing action stuff so I didn't know how I'd get through this ordeal. So this fic is basically sort of an experiment, sort of, in the respect that I'm practicing writing action scenes (because there will be more of that, but there will also be a lot of talking). So yeah. Not much to say about this chapter. Anyway, starting this chapter I'll answer any questions you guys ask in the review in the author's notes (that is, if I didn't reply to your review already to answer the question), I rarely reply to reviews, and it's honestly because I feel shy. Stupid, I know. So ok, here goes.

**fan-fan31: **Sometimes my updates will be faster, but the most that'll happen is an update two days after one chapter is posted, usually I like redoing chapters cause I think it sucks after I read it another time D:

Thank you all for reading!


	9. CHAPTER EIGHT

**The Thief Lords From Beneath**

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Once they hit the ground, the first thing Kanda does is cough out blood. The second thing he does is fall on his knees because of pain that is excruciatingly obvious from the look on his face. He lets go of the doll in favor of clutching his aching chest. After the sensation of pain stopped clouding his mind, he starts thinking of ways to kill Allen fucking Walker, former fourteenth heir to the throne of Dorian. Although, since he wasn't exactly in the right condition to be creative, all he could think of at the moment was strangling that pale, skinny, good-for-nothing neck of his. Would he be apprehended for such an action? Yes. Would he feel too good about himself to care? _**Hell yes**_. So will he do it? He would… if he could… Which he can't, because the stupid bean just grabbed him and jumped off the second floor of a mansion with _**high ceilings**_, and gravity isn't such a wonderful feeling when you think you have a few broken ribs, and more than a few unpleasantly large lacerations.

Apparently, the bean is choosing to ignore his current state of misery, because the bean is digging. He is digging. He is digging to bury a corpse of a person he's never seen before and whom knows almost nothing about. He's digging a grave for whatshisname in favor of helping the guy who fucking saved his skinny little ass. How is this act _**not**_ selfishness? Cross Marianne didn't teach this guy _**anything**_ did he?

Kanda does what his brain tells him to do, which is lunge in an attempt to strangle the snow-haired boy, but in the instant he starts trying to do so, his internal organs decide to react in a bad way and he curses real loud.

"Are you ok, sir Kanda?"

The first thing the swordsman thinks is, _'Ok, who the fuck is this bastard?'_ He blinks a few times before thinking, _'Oh it's the lower thief'_, and then he says, "Do I look ok?"

"No, sir," Toma answers honestly, and Kanda doesn't really know what to do with people who answer rhetorical questions, especially if the person isn't someone he is particularly inclined to insult, unlike, say, the bean for instance.

And that is why he decides to say, "Take the doll and help me up," instead of pointing out the stupidity of Toma's question. The lower thief does as he is told, grabs Lala with one arm, helps Kanda up with the other.

"Shall we wait for Sir Walker?"

Annoyingly, this question makes Kanda think. On the one hand, he could leave the bean behind because that's what he deserves for being a moron, on the other hand, he could stay here and feel his innards bleed and heal at the same fucking time while waiting for the bean to finish burying a man whose name escapes him. The former is a good idea if the bean wasn't so damn reckless (what if he messes up and gets seen by someone? Kanda couldn't risk that).

"Yeah whatever," the swordsman replies finally. "Let's wait for that damn bean _**WHILE I BLEED TO DEATH**_."

It was a petty thing to shout, and it was also a lie. He wouldn't die, not yet, he had things to do, a person to see, and his genetic make-up gave him impossibly fast healing rates.

Once the snow-haired boy lays the old man in the ditch, he is quickly able to cover him with soil until a mound that is obviously a grave is formed. Wiping the dirt off his pants, Allen Walker stands up straight then bows his head, and just stays like that for a few minutes. It ticks Kanda off.

"Any day now, bean!" he shouts impatiently, but the bean stays still.

"Sir Walker, I think we should get Sir Kanda medical help as soon as possible," Toma says meekly, and at that Allen turns around to face both of them.

"Ok, let's go, I'm done," and that effectively pisses Kanda off to new heights.

………………………

When they get back to the Order, Kanda is rushed to the infirmary and Allen has to be the one to jot down the happenings of their heist in detail. Komui told him what he absolutely needed to write down and left him to finish his paper work in the Head Strategist's office. Komui then heads for the infirmary to pay Kanda a visit. The welcome he got is not at all warm.

"So what did you come here for?" Kanda is sitting on a bed, getting patched up by a nurse as he said this.

"Allen is documenting the events of your mission in my office," Komui said, and Kanda gives him a look that is saying that piece of information had nothing to do with him. "I leaned in to read a paragraph and I noticed something interesting."

The swordsman raises an eyebrow. "Interesting?"

"It seems there was a point where Allen thought you were dead because you didn't look like you were breathing."

Kanda stills, he didn't think the bean would be that detailed in his documentation.

"I haven't looked at the videos your golems took, but I can't imagine why Allen would lie about such a thing so I came to tell you that you shouldn't be careless again."

He isn't being scolded really; Kanda knows that Komui knows he isn't normally so careless. He may not have the ability to die now, but someday, perhaps someday soon even, that wouldn't be the case anymore. It is a long story, one he'd never talk about no matter what people do.

"I gave you a partner so this mission would be easier."

Kanda rolls his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me there'd be mirror demons."

"The recon team didn't go in like you did; they just fished out the magic," Komui said plainly. "No one expected the house to be more complicated than it seemed."

The swordsman sighs; he looks away, notes that the nurse is almost finished with him, and then sighs again. Komui stays standing in front of him, frankly he is annoyed at that. "So? Is that all?"

"Yes it is, be more careful from now on," and with that, the head strategist walks out of the room.

Kanda stares in his wake, a scowl on his face. This is all the bean's fault really, why did he have to laugh at the loon they ran into? It is all his fault-- that stupid irksome bean-- because of him he got some irritating reminders from an equally irritating guy with a sister complex. He grits his teeth in annoyance.

………………………...

Allen is still writing down his report when Lavi the Junior Scribe walks into Komui's office.

"So how was the heist with Kanda? It's a bit surprising how he's more knocked up than you are, you must really be something." He has this grin on his face; the grin of a kid who's found a new toy to play with.

"A good deal of the attacks were very sudden, he had to come to my rescue quite a few times. I sincerely thought it we would end horribly…" The former heir is looking dejected; he continues to write for a few moments, then grunts and crumples the paper he has been writing on.

Lavi gives him a look. "Hey now what's this? Wasting paper?"

"I can't decide whether or not I should be writing down absolutely everything; there are some things which I am rather ashamed of."

The Junior Scribe is grinning again; his teeth are blindingly white, it is quite unnerving, like he is flashing those things to milk out juicy information out of Allen. "And what would these shameful things be?"

"Ah…" Maybe he _**needs**_ to tell Lavi, he is the Junior Scribe after all, it is his job to compile and study all these reports; he's also the one who puts the events seen on the videos into paper. The former heir fidgets in his seat for a while, before he decides it's safe to tell him "…We got distracted a few times… by… by our own _**bickering**_."

When Lavi begins laughing he immediately sort of regrets his decision to confide in him, but then the Junior Scribe pats his shoulder in a friendly manner and somehow he feels better about himself for letting Kanda get to him. "You're amazing you know," the red head said. "I can't recall the last time Kanda got so immersed in bickering with someone."

"Actually he wasn't really, his mind was still mostly in the mission."

"_**Mostly**_, not _**entirely**_ like it usually is," Lavi laughs again. "I can't wait for you two to get paired up again!"

Allen grunts. "I honestly hope that isn't someday soon."

………………………..

**You may or may not be have read an edited version of this chapter [ch5 for details]**

(I also haven't reread it to remedy the more obvious mistakes, but I felt like if I'm already late with this so…Sorry if for that)

**NOTES:**

"**Video"**- I know, the existence of this makes no sense in the kind of world I'd been explaining, but more on it later

**A/N**: So this story will enter a new phase, we'll be focusing more on Allen's adventures and plots from now on. There'll be a lot more Lavi and Lenalee from now on too, and lots more info on the Black Order in this AU. Anyway, thank you all for reading!

**Digimagic: **I was originally planning to make this have about fifty chapters and maybe even more. That's still the length I expect it will reach, though it might be shorter or longer depending on what I decide to change (from my original plan that is).


	10. CHAPTER NINE

**The Thief Lords from Beneath**

**CHAPTER NINE**

It is apparent that being a Lord Heir is more than just going on heists. You have to learn about the Order and take the information you're fed to heart. Allen Walker is in the library reading a book on the greatest heists of Jasper LuRim, the first Thief Lord. Lavi had given him other books on other heists by the man, as well as books on all the past and all the current Thief Lords. Allen does not fail to notice the thinness of the book of heists of a certain Cross Marianne; at that, he couldn't help but laugh inwardly. He thereafter wonders how such a man had become a Thief Lord.

"Why am I starting off with the Thief Lords? Shouldn't I be studying the history of the Order?" This, the former heir asks, because it seems logical. He remembers his tutors at the palace always began a new lesson by discussing the topic's history.

"This _**is **_history Allen! The most bulky part of the Black Order's history at that, best get this off your list of things to learn while you're still eager," the Junior Scribe grins, he seems to be rereading a few of the books himself, the one in his hands now is apparently book one in the heists of Cloud Nyne.

"Why can't I just watch the visual recordings of the heists?"

"What, the videos? We didn't always have that sort of magic you know; besides, the spell binding the golems flushes out the video after a scribe finishes putting the heist to paper. It's a safety measure, in the off chance that a commoner gets his hands on one of the things."

Allen looks thoughtful. "But what if someone gets a hold of it before a scribe does?"

"When someone unknown tries to pry information, a golem self destructs."

The former heir's eyes widen. "Really?"

"The Order loves taking it's precautions; Jasper LuRim was a genius at crafting spells to ensure that its existence remains a secret, take these golems for example! And our 'front door'!" Lavi winks at him, and the snow haired boy somehow feels like he's trying to get at something annoying.

"I see." Allen turns back to his book, so as to avoid talk on the front door and talk on things he has experienced connected to it. He proceeds to reading once again.

Jasper LuRim was an interesting man, his heists were not conducted by him (and as such the reports were written by other people) but he made the plans, all of them very detailed. His men followed every single word of his elaborate instructions, and they never failed a heist. LuRim was proving his genius without moving from that legendary chair of his.

"Where are the other Thief Lords?" When the former heir asks this, Lavi looks at him with an eyebrow raised. "I mean, I haven't seen them, I've seen Cross but he hardly counts does he?"

The Junior Scribe laughs. "You insult the guy too much."

"I'm afraid I insult him too little."

"You're really something special you know that?" A grin and a snicker. "The Thief Lords are away, they're all always traveling. They send back letters once every month, sometimes, they send back Lord Heirs, trained in the art of magic and ready for their first heist. Cross Marianne has only ever sent us bills though-- that is, until he sent you."

'_Right, except he forgot to mention to me that I was his Lord Heir,'_ Allen thought. _'He could have given me more information, all he said was, 'Take this to the Order' and he gave me that letter and the directions…'_

Lavi sets down his book and moves his chair closer to Allen. "So tell me, how did he train you?"

"Aren't I supposed to be studying?"

How did Cross Marianne train him? Did Cross train him? Were those things training?

"Oh come on, just spare me a few details. Cross Marianne never revealed much, he had tons of heists but look at how thin that book of his is!"

"These books are the reports the Thief Lords themselves wrote?"

"Of course they are, a scribe's notes can only be read by a scribe you know."

Allen reaches for Cross's heist book, flips it open. He reads aloud, "I went to the location. I looked for the target. I found the target. I went back to the Order." Silence for a moment. "What is this?" Allen looks at the words in disgust.

Lavi laughs heartily and loudly, after a while he looks like he couldn't breathe. Somehow he manages to talk. "Interesting man isn't he? We could never convince him to do a better report! There's this one—" the red head leans in, flips a few pages of the book in Allen's hands "—this one here, he's all, 'I went to the location. I was waiting for the family to leave their home like the Head Strategist told me to, so I could take the target before those fools burned it. But then I fell asleep. Good news is, I had a very nice dream.'" The Junior Scribe breaks into laughter again. "It was way more detailed before, he talked about his dream in detail see, but we told him to change it, well, no, not we, the Senior Scribe did, because it was about Cloud Nyne and—"

Allen raises a hand. "I think I know what you're going to say, please don't continue." He did _**not**_ want to know how old Lavi was when he read that account either.

The Junior Scribe grins an unnervingly bright grin. "Cross Marianne's antics, you know them well, yes?"

"...Yes?"

"This must be because of the training yes?"

"...Maybe?"

"What's with the maybe, no need to be secretive, I'm the Junior Scribe after all." Yes, but did Allen really want the Scribe to immortalize his misfortunes?

"I'm not sure he really trained me."

"But you were using high-leveled magic," then Lavi stops; his eye widens. "And speaking of, I've been meaning to ask you about Kanda's accusations."

This is bad. "What accusations?" Walker's strategy? Play stupid.

"The ones on Black Magic," Lavi's expression turns serious, although his mouth is twitching like he wants to smile. "I heard you explain to Komui, but you looked like you were holding something back."

"I wasn't holding anything back." Complete and utter lie, actually.

"Really now? I know a lie when I hear one Allen Walker; I'm going to get your secret out of you eventually," and that seems to be that, because Lavi stays quiet and picks up his book again, leaving Allen to finish reading his materials.

It is going to be a long day.

.......................

_**An excerpt from Jasper LuRim's persona journal; Written: The Eight Day of May, Eleventh Year in the Reign of Amadeus riFriolle**_

_My men have brought home an injured young man, his face was dirty and bruised, barely recognizable, and yet I am under the impression that I have met him somewhere before. Rules have been broken but I shall not punish my men until I discover who this person is truly. If he proves to be useful, there shall be rewards instead of punishments. I have asked Lannette to care for the lad. There will be much to do when he awakens._

_**An excerpt from Jasper LuRim's personal journal; Written: The Tenth Day of May, Eleventh Year in the Reign of Amadeus riFriolle**_

_It seems that I shall have to reward the men who brought this boy into the underworld. We will finally breach that once impassable territory. We thieves shall forever glorify the name Hansel duFroid. _

.......................

Allen, looking distraught, flips between two pages in Jasper LuRim's journal. "Lavi, there are pages missing from this book."

"Hnh? Which one?" Lavi rises from his chair and walks over to the snow haired boy. He leans over his shoulder and looks at the Allen's book. "That's how it really is."

The former heir gives him a confused look. "But it's... It's missing a year."

"Yes, curious thing isn't it? He mentions the name Hansel duFroid, then, an entire year is left out and he resumes his entries as if nothing had happened. Rumor has it Hansel took the records with him when he left."

"He stole it? From the Thief Lord?"

"And the then Head Scribe, if the rumor stands true; Hansel duFroid was one talented thief..."

Lavi pauses and gives Allen a look, the former heir finds himself uneasy. "What is it?"

"Are there any records of a certain Hansel riFriolle in the Royal Archives?"

Allen blinks, once, twice. "Well, now that you mention it, I don't believe there had been any of the sort. It's almost as if Hansel never existed."

"But he did, as proven by this entry of Jasper LuRim—" he points towards the said text. "—and 'The Tale of Hansel duFroid'."

"Hmm... Who wrote 'The Tale of Hansel duFroid'?" It almost sounded like an innocent question.

The Junior Scribe looks surprised for a few moments, then laughs. "Haven't got a clue! If I could inspect the original script I might be able to figure something out, but alas, that's hidden away at the Royal Palace."

Allen smiled inwardly, he could use that.

..........................

**You may or may not have read an edited version of this chapter (chapter 5 for details)**

**A/N: **Not much to say about this chapter. What is Allen plotting, is he hiding something? That's to be tackled in this 'Arc' of the story. Thank you very much for reading and reviewing!


	11. CHAPTER TEN

**The Thief Lords from Beneath**

**CHAPTER TEN**

"_It will take lots of careful thought, you'll need the perfect situation, one such where they'll have no choice but to say yes." Allen Walker listens to every word that comes out of Cross Marianne's mouth as if his life depends on it. "I've known those four since I was just a kid. They all have different agendas, some you can easily relate to, others are extremely far out. In any case, they'll seem very different at first. Find a link between their priorities, use it."_

"_And what about you?" His question is met with a moment of silence, and then an amused grunt._

"_If only because it'll be very interesting, I'll be agreeing to whatever you'll be plotting as well."_

"_Won't you be apprehended for offhandedly agreeing?"_

"_Please, if they could 'apprehend' me, they would have done it ages ago." _

.....................

It is around lunch time when Allen goes to his new favourite place on earth (that is, the mess hall), but he is unfortunately not here to get his usual roast chickens and butter bread. No, he is here to approach a certain grumpy someone who is eating eastern style noodles. This is the only place to start really-- he's heard that aside from Cross, only one of the Thief Lords is nearby at that moment, and that is Froi Tiedoll.

"Uhm... Hi."

Kanda glares at him with venom, and continues to eat his noodles as Allen stands there awkwardly.

"I heard your wounds are healed already!" The former heir thereafter laughs nervously. It is a mystery how Kanda's injuries healed in just a little over a day; even _**with**_ healing magic it would take at least a week. But Allen isn't here to ask about that, he is here for something else.

"What do you want?" The swordsman snaps, looking at the snow haired boy warily.

Allen guesses that the only way to 'please' Kanda in such a situation is to be direct: "I heard Froi Tiedoll was in town-- do you know where I might be able to have a one-on-one talk with him?"

Dark pupils stare at him in annoyance; the former heir finds himself fidgeting where he stood.

"Tsch, knowing that old man, he'll come to see you," Kanda finally says, which led Allen to ask:

"Why would he come to see me?"

Kanda shrugs, Allen gets ticked.

"You're Cross Marianne's Lord Heir." The voice is new, unfamiliar, it startles the snow haired boy. His head briskly turns to look at the man sitting next to Kanda.

He is tall, bulky, dark-skinned, and his face looks very, very kind. He stares at the new person, eyes wide in surprise. "Oh!" exclaims the man "I'm sorry, my name's Noise Marie, the first Lord Heir of Froi Tiedoll." He holds up his hand offering a handshake, "You must be Allen Walker."

"Ye-Yes, nice to meet you!" Allen flashes his pearly whites like he used to when meeting noblemen and takes the hand shake. "And, what do you mean by I'm Cross Marianne's Lord Heir? Uhm, I mean, yes, yes, I am his Lord Heir, but I don't see what that has to do with Froi Tiedoll paying me a visit."

"It has everything to do with it," Kanda snaps, thereafter slurping his noodles loudly.

Noise Marie continues the thought by saying, "Cross Marianne used to tease our father all the time for being soft on his Lord Heirs; he also used to claim that he would never take one of his own, and yet here you are."

"I see," Allen says, and then he pauses. "Wait, _**father**_?"

Marie scratches the back of his head, looking embarrassed. "Well yes, Froi Tiedoll has made it a point to adopt all his Lord Heirs. None of us are originally from this Kingdom you see, so that became something possible."

Allen turns to look at Kanda; eyes him curiously. He's gotten used to the man's face because of their heist, but now that he's reminded of his cultural heritage, he looks very intriguing again. He doesn't seem as unworldly to Allen anymore, but he is still exasperatingly stunning. Suddenly a glass comes flying towards the former heir's face, but fortunately, he catches it.

"What the hell are you gawking at me like that for bean? It's annoying the hell out of me!"

"Now, now Kanda--"

"Shut up Marie!"

Apparently he isn't kind to his 'brothers' either. Allen looks Kanda squarely in the eye and says, "I was reminded about the fact that you really are foreign. It's very interesting, I've met royalty from the East but no one has ever been quite as infuriating as you." None of them looked better than Kanda either.

The swordsman rolls his eyes, "Isn't that nice, our hate is mutual."

Allen smiles-- it looks very very strained. "Yes, it's nice to know isn't it? Really is a shame that your beauty's only skin deep."

Kanda snorts. "Better than not having beauty inside or out like _**some**_ people I can think of."

The former heir laughs a strained laugh and he and Kanda end up glaring at one another.

Marie finds himself strangely happy for his 'brother', and slightly scared for his life.

........................

'_The perfect situation'_ as Cross had put it, is something Allen needs to set up in order to be able to bring out his trump card.

To do that, he needs to fulfill the necessary steps, all of which he's 'organized' into an invisible checklist in his head. He's been told by Lenalee Lee that she would try to contact Cloud Nyne, that's one item (almost) taken care of. Noise Marie and (that bastard) Kanda Yuu has told him that Froi Tiedoll would surely go looking for him. That left three more Thief Lords to worry about. His own guardian, Cross Marianne, is the least of his worries because when he sent Allen off, he said he'd stay over at a certain noble lady's house until he returns. The former heir is sure that his guardian knew he wouldn't be returning anytime soon because of the Order's rules. He is sure that fact meant something (or maybe he is just thinking too much).

He turns to his side as he mulls over these things in his bed.

He's just gotten cozy in his new room. it had a bed, a desk, and it has its own bathroom. It is exceptionally dark when you didn't turn on the lights, but it isn't dreary in the least. Allen sort of wonders who on earth installed the electricity-driven lights. Some houses in Dorian had them; the electricity is derived from a power source that looks much like a box.

The skilled magicians who serves the king make these boxes by casting a powerful spell on ordinary boxes. The box will be an eternal supply of electrical energy if the process is performed correctly. But the spell to do that is a Palace secret. Did the Order steal a box? No, they couldn't have; it seems they only steal 'what was once theirs'. Apparently the three founders of the Order were once very rich noblemen who rebelled against the then King, and were 'terminated' because of it. Their belongings were given away, some to random citizens, others are sent as gifts to noblemen both of this Kingdom and foreign ones. They had a lot of possessions, some powerful magic materials, others important heirlooms, while a great deal are just trinkets and furniture.

The three were Jacques LuRim, Aimery duBoise and Vielle duBoise. The latter two were married, and Lanette duBoise was their daughter. As is obvious by now, Jacques' son was Jasper LuRim. The three founders did not live long enough to conduct the first heist. They did, however, manage to gather enough men so that Jasper could conduct it in their stead. It is said that Jasper was with his men personally on the first heist. The heist is undocumented, but something is said to have happened, and this certain event made Jasper decide he would never leave his lair again. He mentions something of the sort in his journal but is very vague.

Allen rubs his temples; he's been fed lots of information that day, certainly. It is quite a headache. But he always did think that there is no better way to clear one's thoughts than to organize them and then neatly tuck them away.

It is impossible that any of the three founders would own one of those electrical boxes. Noblemen use fire to illuminate their homes and rooms after all. Allen knows that this is true without exception. That being so, how there is electricity in the Order is still therefore a mystery. It couldn't have been obtained from a heist. Allen can think of two possibilities: some of the people they'd gathered to form the Order had brought it, or the Order learned of the spell from a certain person who's been intimately acquainted with the ways of the palace. With luck, this piece of information can actually be a key to proving the existence of Hansel duFroid.

Allen grins. Sometimes over thinking leads to great discoveries, and this is one of the rare times he's actually happy about the fact. _'Great discoveries'_ weren't beneficial to him in his Palace days. Cross Marianne told him that his tendency to over think would come in handy in his _'Hansel duFroid' _attempt though, and he is (annoyingly) turning out to be right.

But why thrust him into the Order and proclaim him Lord Heir without warning or explanation? Why shock him? Allen is sure Cross has a purpose. He is thinking that perhaps his guardian wants him to look less suspicious. Certainly, Kanda Yuu might have thought him to be suspicious (and he _**did **_think him suspicious at first), but because things turned out the way they did, he'd seemed more idiotic than anything to the man. He isn't too happy about that but he couldn't imagine the swordsman thinking he'd try to be a _'Hansel duFroid'_. Lavi the Junior Scribe is onto him though; he'd suspected it from the first time they'd met. But Allen hadn't gathered his wits then, ridiculous as his situation had seemed to him at the time… Ah, perhaps Cross really did intend to throw everyone off. But since Allen doesn't want to think his freeloading master is a genius of any sort, he sets it aside as a theory, a highly probable theory.

That left the mystery of Cross' final message and how he would contact the last two Thief Lords. Allen rolls around to lie on his other side and considers these things, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration and frustration.

Cross is probably trying to say something. He's been particular about which woman's house he is to stay in. He also knows Allen wouldn't be able to leave the Order. Why, the only way Allen could go to the house at the moment is through a heist. But what does that mean? Does he just wait for him to get a assigned to a heist there? Is there a way to make _**sure**_ he got assigned to a heist situated at that house? Or is this all just Cross' way to make things harder for him and add pressure? And he's given him Timcampy too, what is with this? Maybe Timcampy is also there to lessen suspicion. Maybe Cross would take care of how he'd meet up with Allen again once he's pulled out his trump card. Whatever the case, Cross seems to think everything would work out.

Allen hopes he's right. Now he had to look up those other two Thief Lords… Winters Zokalo and Kevin Yeegar was it?

………………………

**You may or may not have read an edited version of this chapter (ch5 for details)**

**NOTES: **

**Chickens- **I meant to write roast CHICKENS, Allen wouldn't be Allen otherwise. Of course, he forgets to mention he goes for seconds and usually ends up asking for platters of roast beef.

**Allen's tendency to over think- **Allen's under different circumstances here, while his 'Education' if we'll follow his official profile is only a 3/5 in canon, I think it'd be 5/5 in this world because he was tutored in the Palace. Additionally, while Kanda's 'Education' is a 2/5 in canon, it is 3/5 here for reasons which we'll see later.

(**A/N:** I love Marie; he's one of my favourite characters, I like to think that he and Kanda are close, hahaha. A lot's gonna happen from now on, the chapters might be longer, but I might update more quickly too. Just what is Allen up to? We'll see. Generally, things are going to be very unlike DGM for a while, but certain events will seem strangely familiar. The next story arc after this one however, will be very parallel to a canon arc… Anyway. Thank you for reading!)


End file.
